Paracroton pendulus
(Hassk.) Miq. ssp. zeylanicus (Thwaites) N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab.
in Kew Bull. 48: 719, f. 2. 1993. Desmostemon zeylanicus Thwaites, Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 278. 1861.
Ostodes zeylanicus (Thwaites) Müll.Arg. in Linnaea 34: 213. 1865 & in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 1114.
1866; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 400. 1887. Fahrenheitia zeylanica (Thwaites) Airy Shaw in Kew
Bull. 20: 410. 1966.
Kan.: Bale, Sotega.
Trees, 10 - 30 m tall; branchlets glabrescent in age. Leaves oblong to elliptic-oblong or obovate to oblong-oblanceolate, cuneate or acute at base, glandular-dentate or glandularserrate along margins, acuminate to cuspidate at apex, (11 -) 16 - 50 x (3 -) 5 - 15 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, glabrous above, sparsely puberulous on midrib beneath; lateral nerves (8 -) 10 - 20 pairs; petioles 3 - 12 cm long. Male inflorescences terminal and axillary, 40 - 65 cm long, few branched, the lowermost branch 25 - 45 cm long; flowers fascicled; pedicels 2.5 - 6 mm long; calyx 4.5 - 7 x 7 - 8 mm, densely furfuraceous outside; lobes (4 or) 5, orbicular to spathulate, 3 - 5 x 3 - 6 mm, often dorsally appendiculate (all or 1 - 2); petals 5, oblong or spathulate-obovate, 6 - 9 x 2.5 - 4 mm; disc glands 5 or 10; stamens 14 - 32 Female inflorescences terminal, thyrsiform, 18 - 50 cm long, the lowermost branch near the base 8 - 35 cm long, almost racemiform towards apex; flowers 2 or 3 together or solitary, densely reddish furfuraceous; pedicels 2 - 7 mm long; calyx 5 - 8 mm across; lobes 5, orbicular, ovate or triangular, 3.5 - 6 x 2 - 6 mm, dorsally appendiculate; petals 5, oblong, triangular or orbicular-obovate, 6 - 8 x 2 - 4 mm, caducous; disc glands connate in a ring, lobed; ovary subglobose 2.5 - 3.5 x 3 - 4 mm, densely stellate pilose or hispid; styles 3, 1 - 3 mm long, bifid. Fruits globose, unlobed or scarcely 3-lobed, 2.5 - 3.5 cm in diam., hard, appressed furfuraceous or tomentellous, with raised sutures.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Evergreen forests along West Coast and Western Ghats, up to 1800 m altitude. Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka.
Notes. Pollen grains inaperturate, sexine with crotonoid pattern. D = 72 μm (66 to 84) (Tissot, Chikhi & Nayar, Pollen of wet evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India. Publ. du depart. D’ecologie, Inst. Francias de Pondichery p. 29, pl. 32. 1994).
Trees, 10 - 30 m tall; branchlets glabrescent in age. Leaves oblong to elliptic-oblong or obovate to oblong-oblanceolate, cuneate or acute at base, glandular-dentate or glandularserrate along margins, acuminate to cuspidate at apex, (11 -) 16 - 50 x (3 -) 5 - 15 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, glabrous above, sparsely puberulous on midrib beneath; lateral nerves (8 -) 10 - 20 pairs; petioles 3 - 12 cm long. Male inflorescences terminal and axillary, 40 - 65 cm long, few branched, the lowermost branch 25 - 45 cm long; flowers fascicled; pedicels 2.5 - 6 mm long; calyx 4.5 - 7 x 7 - 8 mm, densely furfuraceous outside; lobes (4 or) 5, orbicular to spathulate, 3 - 5 x 3 - 6 mm, often dorsally appendiculate (all or 1 - 2); petals 5, oblong or spathulate-obovate, 6 - 9 x 2.5 - 4 mm; disc glands 5 or 10; stamens 14 - 32 Female inflorescences terminal, thyrsiform, 18 - 50 cm long, the lowermost branch near the base 8 - 35 cm long, almost racemiform towards apex; flowers 2 or 3 together or solitary, densely reddish furfuraceous; pedicels 2 - 7 mm long; calyx 5 - 8 mm across; lobes 5, orbicular, ovate or triangular, 3.5 - 6 x 2 - 6 mm, dorsally appendiculate; petals 5, oblong, triangular or orbicular-obovate, 6 - 8 x 2 - 4 mm, caducous; disc glands connate in a ring, lobed; ovary subglobose 2.5 - 3.5 x 3 - 4 mm, densely stellate pilose or hispid; styles 3, 1 - 3 mm long, bifid. Fruits globose, unlobed or scarcely 3-lobed, 2.5 - 3.5 cm in diam., hard, appressed furfuraceous or tomentellous, with raised sutures.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Evergreen forests along West Coast and Western Ghats, up to 1800 m altitude. Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka.
Notes. Pollen grains inaperturate, sexine with crotonoid pattern. D = 72 μm (66 to 84) (Tissot, Chikhi & Nayar, Pollen of wet evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India. Publ. du depart. D’ecologie, Inst. Francias de Pondichery p. 29, pl. 32. 1994).
