Mesua thwaitesii Planch. & Triana in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. ser. 4, 15: 305. 1861; T. Anderson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 278. 1874. M. ferrea L. var. thwaitesii (Planch. & Triana) Vesque in DC., Monogr. Phan. 8: 634. 1893; Mahesh. in Bull. Bot. Surv. India 5: 339. 1964.

Glabrous trees, up to 20 m tall; bark dark brown, smooth. Leaves opposite , linear-elliptic oblong, contracted and acute to rounded at. base, acute or acuminate to cuspidate at apex, thickly coriaceous, pale green above, glaucous, white and faintly nerved beneath, papillate on lower surface, petiolate. Flowers rose-coloured, showy, axillary (in axils of apical leaves), solitary, paired or rarely in threes, on a short, pubescent peduncle, ca 11.5 cm in diam. Sepals 4, outer pair smaller than inner pair and petals, slightly pubescent, persistent, accrescent or not. Petals 4, ca 2 cm across, orbicular. Stamens numerous, slender. Ovary 2-loculed; stigma peltate. Fruits 3 - 5 cm long, depressed or obovoid-globose, apiculate or conical, woody, surrounded by enlarged sepals and bracts. Seeds 2.

Fl. & Fr. Feb. - Dec.

Distrib. India: In semievergreen and evergreen forests of Southern Western Ghats. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Sri Lanka.

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