Beilschmiedia wightii

Beilschmiedia wightii Benth. & Hook.f., Gen. Pl. 3: 152 1880. (Syn: Haasia wightii Nees);

Malayalam: Nagaramaram; Panthada

Habit– Trees up to 25 m tall.

Trunk & Bark– Bark brown, smooth; blaze brown.

Branches and Branchlets– Branchlets terete, glabrous; apical buds elongated protected with lanceolate scales.

Leaves– Leaves simple, alternate, spiral to opposite or subopposite, clustered at twig ends; petiole 0.5-1.8 cm long, slightly canaliculate; lamina 5-13 x 2.5-6 cm, elliptic to narrow elliptic, apex acuminate, often acumen twisted, base acute to cuneate, margin entire, glabrous, shining, aromatic when squeeze; midrib slightly canaliculate; secondary nerves 7-12 pairs, branched, relatively acute in angle; tertiary nerves strongly reticulate.

Inflorescence / Flower– Inflorescence axillary and subterminal panicle, glabrous.

Fruit and Seed– Berry, ellipsoid, 2 cm long; fruiting perianth lobes caducous ; seeds 1.

Canopy trees in high elevation evergreen forests and subcanopy trees in low to medium elevation evergreen forests, between 400-2000 m.

Endemic to the Western Ghats – occasional in South and Central Sahyadris.

(Attributions- B. R. Ramesh, N. Ayyappan, Pierre Grard, Juliana Prosperi, S. Aravajy, Jean Pierre Pascal, The Biotik Team, French Institute of Pondicherry

from India Biodiversity Portal)