Polyalthia coffeoides
(Hook. f. & Thomson) Thwaites, Enum. Pl.
Zeyl. 398. 1864;
Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 62. 1872. Guatteria coffeoides Hook. f. &
Thomson, Fl. Ind. 141. 1855.
Mal.: Villa; Tam.: Acevattai, Nedumarai.
Trees, spreading, 18 - 25 m tall; crown subglobose; young branches tomentose when young, glabrous later. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, rounded or slightly cuneate at base, long-acuminate at apex, slightly undulate along margins, 10 - 27 x 3.5 - 8.5 cm, glabrous, pellucid-dotted; lateral nerves 10 - 14 pairs, raised beneath; petioles ca 1 cm long, glabrous. Flowers solitary, extra-axillary or sometimes fascicled on woody tubercles on trunk, greenish yellow; pedicels 1 - 4 cm long, slender, pubescent; bracts basal, ca 1 mm long, tomentose. Sepals 3, suborbicular, 2 - 3 mm across, tomentose. Petals 6 (3 + 3), greenish yellow; outer petals oblong-lanceolate, slightly clawed at base, acute, 2.5 - 5.5 x 0.5 - 0.8 cm, subequal, thickly coriaceous, glabrous; inner ones narrower. Stamens numerous, ca 1 mm long; connectives subglobose at top. Carpels oblong, broad at base, 3 - 4 mm long, densely pubescent; style short, linear, curved; stigma simple, capitate; ovule 1 in each locule. Ripe carpels many, ovoid, ellipsoid, obtuse, apiculate or slightly beaked, 2 - 3 x 1.5 cm, glabrous, dark purple; stalks 1 - 1.5 cm long, woody, stout. Seed 1, broadly ovoid, grooved.
Fl. March - Nov.; Fr. July - Aug., Jan. - Feb.
Distrib. India: Evergreen subtropical forests, 500 - 1500 m. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Sri Lanka.
Notes. Bark used for making ropes.
The fruiting periods given above are from herbarium specimens, probably there are two flushes of flowering. This needs futher observations in the field.
Trees, spreading, 18 - 25 m tall; crown subglobose; young branches tomentose when young, glabrous later. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, rounded or slightly cuneate at base, long-acuminate at apex, slightly undulate along margins, 10 - 27 x 3.5 - 8.5 cm, glabrous, pellucid-dotted; lateral nerves 10 - 14 pairs, raised beneath; petioles ca 1 cm long, glabrous. Flowers solitary, extra-axillary or sometimes fascicled on woody tubercles on trunk, greenish yellow; pedicels 1 - 4 cm long, slender, pubescent; bracts basal, ca 1 mm long, tomentose. Sepals 3, suborbicular, 2 - 3 mm across, tomentose. Petals 6 (3 + 3), greenish yellow; outer petals oblong-lanceolate, slightly clawed at base, acute, 2.5 - 5.5 x 0.5 - 0.8 cm, subequal, thickly coriaceous, glabrous; inner ones narrower. Stamens numerous, ca 1 mm long; connectives subglobose at top. Carpels oblong, broad at base, 3 - 4 mm long, densely pubescent; style short, linear, curved; stigma simple, capitate; ovule 1 in each locule. Ripe carpels many, ovoid, ellipsoid, obtuse, apiculate or slightly beaked, 2 - 3 x 1.5 cm, glabrous, dark purple; stalks 1 - 1.5 cm long, woody, stout. Seed 1, broadly ovoid, grooved.
Fl. March - Nov.; Fr. July - Aug., Jan. - Feb.
Distrib. India: Evergreen subtropical forests, 500 - 1500 m. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Sri Lanka.
Notes. Bark used for making ropes.
The fruiting periods given above are from herbarium specimens, probably there are two flushes of flowering. This needs futher observations in the field.
