Miliusa

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A conspectus of Indo-Burmese Annonaceae by I. M. Turner- Nordic Journal of Botany 33: 257–299, 2015-
Species in India with distribution:

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10- M. macrocarpa Hook.f. & Thomson
11- M. mollis Pierre var. sparsior Craib  [“I suspect that the Andaman collections belong to M. parviflora“- as per A conspectus of Indo-Burmese Annonaceae by I. M. Turner (2015)]
12- M. montana Gardner ex Hook.f. & Thomson [unresolved name]
13- M. mukerjeeana Debika Mitra nee D. Das & Chakr. [syn. of Miliusa parviflora Ridl. as per A conspectus of Indo-Burmese Annonaceae by I. M. Turner (2015)]
14- M. nilagirica Bedd. [unresolved name]
15- M. tirunelvelica Murugan [unresolved name]
16- M. tomentosa (Roxb.) Hook.f. & Thomson
17- M. velutina (Dunal) Hook.f. & Thomson (var. velutina; var. deviyarina)
18- M. wightiana Hook.f. & Thomson [unresolved name]

Miliusa nilagirica is mentioned as “Vulnerable” in Indian Red Data Book by Nayar & Sastry (1987-90).

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(Introduction: ……………. Mitra (1993) recognised 15 species in the treatment for the flora of India. During the last decade, three new taxa, viz. Miliusa velutina var. deviyarina Rajendran et al.(2003: 220), Miliusa tirunelvelica Murugan et al. (2004: 102), and Miliusa wayanadica Sujanapal et al. in Narayanan et al. (2010a: 64) were published from the peninsular Indian region, which has more species than other parts of Asia, and now there are a total of ten species and one variety, viz. Miliusa eriocarpa Dunn (1916: 58), Miliusa indica Leschenault ex Candolle (1832: 213), Miliusa montana Gardner ex Hooker & Thomson (1855: 148), Miliusa nilagirica Beddome (1868-1874: 18), Miliusa tomentosa (Roxburgh: 1795: 31. t. 35.) Sinclair (1955: 378), Miliusa velutina Hooker & Thomson (1855: 151), Miliusa velutina var. deviyarina, Miliusa wightiana Hooker & Thomson (1855: 149), Miliusa longiflora Sinclair (1955: 378), Miliusa tirunelvelica and M. wayanadica in the region.
Of the Indian species, five are endemic to peninsular India, and two have an extended distribution in Sri Lanka. Four species, viz. M. andamanica Finet & Gagnepain (1906: 151), M. mukerjeeana Mitra & Chakraborty (1994: 326), M. tectona Hutchinson ex Parkinson (1923: 75) and M. jainii Goel & Sharma (1991: 629) are present in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with three endemic to the Andaman region. Miliusa tomentosa, M. indica and M. zeylanica Gardner ex Hooker & Thomson (1855: 149) are distributed in Sri Lanka also (Huber 1985). Western Ghats with tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forests are the habitats of Miliusa in peninsular India.) ………………..

Key to the species and varieties of Miliusa in peninsular India
Subsequent to the discovery of the new species, the total number of species in peninsular India has been increased to 11 species and one variety, and a key is provided to facilitate easy identification of the taxa.
1. Medium trees, 7–20 m tall …… 2
Shrubs or small trees, up to 5 m tall ……….. 5
2. Inner petal largely pouched below; ovules 6 or more ….. 3
– Inner petal flat or shortly saccate below; ovules 1 or 2 …… 4
3. Branchlets puberulous; pedicels to 1 cm long …. Miliusa longiflora
– Branchlets tomentose; pedicels more than 1 cm long ….. Miliusa tomentosa
4. Leaves velutinous; pedicel 4–8 cm long ……. Miliusa velutina var. velutina
– Leaves glabrescent; pedicel to 4 cm long …. Miliusa velutina var. deviyarina
5. Stamens 6–12, uni- or biseriate …….. 6
– Stamens more than 15, many-seriate …… 7
6. Leaves cuneate at base; flowers purplish brown; stamens 8–12, uniseriate … Miliusa nilagirica
– Leaves rounded at base; flowers green; stamens 6+3, biseriate … Miliusa wayanadica
7. Pedicels 2–4 cm long; monocarp pisiform .…. 8
– Pedicels 0.2–1.5 cm long; monocarp globose, ovoid or obovoid …… 9
8. Branchlets glabrous; monocarp-apex apiculate ……. Miliusa wightiana
– Branchlets hairy; monocarp-apex obtuse …. Miliusa tirunelvelica
9. Young branches strigose; sepals glabrous, subequal …. 10
– Young branches glabrous or puberulous; sepals pubescent, equal …… 11
10. Leaves with sub-marginal looping nerves; pedicel glabrous, greenish; carpels linear-oblong, glabrous ………. Miliusa gokhalaei
– Leaves with marginal looping nerves; pedicel pubescent, reddish; carpels oblong, grey tomentose ……… Miliusa eriocarpa
11. Leaf tip obtuse or acute; carpels pilose …. Miliusa indica
– Leaf tip long acuminate; carpels glabrous …. Miliusa montana

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A synopsis of Annonaceae in Indian subcontinent by SR KUNDU (pdf-23 pages)- Thaiszia – J. Bot., Košice, 16: 63-85, 2006. :

From Floral Database of Tamilnadu :

Binomial

Habit

Notes

Ref.

Distrib.

Miliusa eriocarpa Dunn	Shrub	Dry Evergreen to  Moist Deciduous Forests	Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. I, 1983	All districts
Miliusa montana Gard. ex Hook. f. & Thoms.	Shrub	Western Ghats, Moist Deciduous to Evergreen Forests	Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. I, 1983	Coimbatore, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli
Miliusa nilagirica Bedd.	Shrub	Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests	Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. I, 1983	Coimbatore, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli
Miliusa tomentosa (Roxb.) Sinclair	Tree	Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats, Dry Deciduous to Moist Deciduous Forests	Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. I, 1983; Matthew, 1983	Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Salem, Tirunelveli, Tiruvanna malai, Viluppuram
Miliusa wightiana Hook. f. & Thoms.	Tree	Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests	Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. I, 1983; Gamble, 1957	Coimbatore, Kanniya kumari, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli

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FRLHT Indian Medicinal Plants Nomenclature Database with images/ herbarium, distribution, local names etc. :

Miliusa roxburghiana (GRIFF.) HK. F. & TH. [syn. of Miliusa dioeca (Roxb.) Chaowasku as per A conspectus of Indo-Burmese Annonaceae by I. M. Turner (2015)] Miliusa tomentosa (ROXB.) SINCLAIR
Miliusa velutina HOOK. F. & TH.

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Species with description & pictures in Flowers of India as on 8.3.14:

Botanical name

Synonyms

Family

Common name

Miliusa tomentosa

Uvaria tomentosa, Saccopetalum tomentosum

Annonaceae

Hoom

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Species with distribution in annotated checklist of Flowering plants of Nepal (Distribution):
Miliusa macrocarpa Hook. f. & Thomson (Nepal: doubtful)
Miliusa roxburghiana (Wall.) Hook. f. & Thomson (Himalaya (Nepal, Sikkim), Assam, Burma) [syn. of Miliusa dioeca (Roxb.) Chaowasku as per A conspectus of Indo-Burmese Annonaceae by I. M. Turner (2015)]
Miliusa tomentosa (Roxb.) Sinclair (Nepal, India)
Miliusa velutina (Dunal) Hook. f. & Thomson (Tropical Himalaya, India)

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Some species found in India with description & keys from Flora of China [Distribution other than China] :
Miliusa horsfieldii (Bennett) Pierre [India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand; Australia].
Miliusa velutina (Dunal) J. D. Hooker & Thomson [Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam].