Taxillus heyneanus (Schult.f.) Danser in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, Ser. 3, 10: 355. 1929. Loranthus heyneanus Schult.f., Syst. Veg. 7: 106. 1829 (non Schult.f. 1830). L. bracteatus B.Heyne ex Roxb., Fl. Ind., eds. Carey & Wall. 2: 220. 1824 (non Rich, 1792); Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 213. 1886. Taxillus bracteatus (B.Heyne ex Roxb.) Tiegh. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 42: 256. 1895.

Branches densely covered with white shiny abietiform hairs intermixed with stellate hairs when young; nodes prominently ribbed with leaf scars. Leaves alternate (apparently clustered due to congested axillary shoots), orbicular to ovate, attenuate at base, rounded at apex, 1.5 - 5 x 1 - 6 cm, crustaceous, evanescently hairy on both surfaces; lateral nerves 3 - 5 pairs; petioles 1 - 1.5 cm long, hairy to glabrous. Inflorescence axillary, shortly peduncled or sessile simple dichasium; peduncle 1 or 2 in each axil, 3 (or 4)-flowered, 8 - 10 mm long, hairy; flower buds ventricose with clavate apex, 2 - 2.5 cm long, hairy. Flowers 5-merous, 3 - 4 cm long; pedicels 2 - 3.5 mm long; bracts obovate to oblanceolate, foliaceous, 8 - 10 x 3 - 6 mm. Calyculus 5-lobed, 3 - 4 mm long; lobes triangular to lanceolate, acute, reflexed, 1.2 - 1.5 mm long. Petals 5, united; tube ventricose at middle, with median split up to two-third the length, 2 - 2.5 cm long, pilose; lobes 5, linear-lanceolate, reflexed, 4 - 6 mm long, thin. Stamens 5; filaments ca 1.5 mm long; anthers oblong, 1 - 2 mm long. Ovary turbinate, 2 - 2.5 mm long; style 1.8 - 2 cm long; stigma, bifid or depressed. Fruits broadly ellipsoid, crowned by persistent calyculus, 9 - 12 x 3 - 4 mm, smooth, sparsely hairy.

Fl. & Fr. April - Nov.

Distrib. India: Deccan and Western Peninsula, found on a variety of hosts in scrub jungles, roadsides and deciduous forests, at low altitudes. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Endemic.

Notes. Vessels with lateral perforations, with tyloses; fibres excessively thick-walled, with narrow lumen.

Pollen 3-lobed; P - 24 (26) 30 µm; E - 41 (47.7) 55 µm; P/E - 0.54 µm; ex. 2 µm; col. 1 µm.