Symplocos obtusa

Symplocos obtusa Wall. ex G. Don, Numer. List 4424 1831. (syn: Eugeniodes laetum (Thw.) Kuntze; Eugeniodes obtusum (Wall.) Kuntze; Lodhra laeta (Thw.) Miers; Lodhra obovata Miers; Lodhra obtusa (Wall.) Miers; Symplocos furcata Brand; Symplocos laeta Thw.; Symplocos major Brand; Symplocos obovata Wight & Gardn. ex Thw.; Symplocos suborbicularis Abeyw.);

India (Nilgiri Hills), Sri Lanka as per Catalogue of life;

Trees, to 10 m high; young parts glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole 20-30 mm long, slender, glabrous, grooved above; lamina 6-11 x 4-6.5 cm, obovate, base cuneate, apex obtuse, margin entire or serrate, glabrous, coriaceous; lateral nerves 5-8 pairs, glabrous, pinnate, prominent; intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, in unbranched 2-3 cm long racemes, axis hispid; bracts ovate, cauducous; bracteoles early cauducous; pedicels 1 mm long, slender; calyx tube adnate to the ovary, lobes 5, 1.5 x 1 mm, obtuse, hairy; corolla lobes 5; stamens numerous, unequal, many seriate, adnate to the corolla tube; anthers short, ovary inferior, ovules 2-3 in each cell, pendulous from the inner angle. Frit a drupe, 12 x 5 mm, terete, yellowish-green, minutely hispid towards apex; seeds 1-3, oblong.

Flowering and fruiting: May-November

Shola forests

South India and Sri Lanka

(From India Biodiversity Portal

Attributions- Dr. N Sasidharan (Dr. B P Pal Fellow), Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi)