Claoxylon anomalum Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 412. 1887, emend. V.S.Raju & C.N.Mohanan in J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 5: 1202. 1984; Susila & N.P.Balakr. in Rheedea 5(2): 116, f. 1. 1995.

Shrubs, 1 - 2 m high, dioecious; branchlets puberulous or glabrous; indumentum simple. Leaves narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, acute or cuneate at base, longacuminate at apex, crenate-serrate along margins, (8 -)15 - 20 x 3 - 6 cm, membranous to chartaceous, punctate, puberulous on nerves; lateral nerves 6 - 9 pairs, stipules caducous; petioles up to 7.5 cm long, with 2 - 4 glands at apex. Inflorescences racemose, axillary, simple, up to 3 cm long; peduncles 2 - 5 mm long. Male flowers: bracts 3, with one main and two lateral ones, each carrying 1 - 2 flowers; pedicels ca 1 mm long; calyx-lobes 3, triangular, 1 - 1.5 mm long; stamens 25 – 40; filaments minute or absent; anthers 0.3 - 0.5 mm across. Female flowers: bracts 3, triangular, 2 - 4 mm across; single-flowered; pedicels 2 - 4 mm long; calyx-lobes 3, ovatelanceolate, 1 - 2 mm long; ovary trigonous, usually 3-locular, occasionally 2 or 4-locular, 2 - 4 mm across, puberulous, styles 3, not clearly distinguishable from ovary; disc annular, 3-lobed; scales 3, free, 2 - 5 mm long, spreading, plumose-papillose. Fruits depressed-globose, deeply 3- lobed, 1 - 1.5 cm across, sparsely puberulous; seeds globose, smooth, ca 6 mm across, arillate; testa foveolate.

Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Oct.

Distrib. India: Wet evergreen or semi evergreen forests, along margins of streams in valleys, occasionally ascending on slopes of hills, up to 1500 m. Kerala (Idukki) and Tamil Nadu (Courtallam).

Endemic to southern parts of Western Ghats.

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