Antidesma comptum
Tul. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Ser. III, 15: 190. 1851; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India
5: 365. 1887. A. lanceolatum Tul. var. walkeri Tul., l. c. 196. 1851. A. walkeri (Tul.) Pax &
K.Hoffm. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV.147.xv (heft 81): 118. 1922; A.N. Henry in Curr. Sci. 35: 106, f. 1.
1966.
Sinh.: Thimbiliya.
Shrubs or trees, 2 – 7 m tall; branches glabrous or finely pubescent. Leaves elliptic-ovate, ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, narrowed and acute at base, acuminate at apex, 2.5 – 21 x (1 -) 2 – 4 cm, glabrous, glossy above; lateral nerves 4 - 8 pairs; petioles 4 - 10 mm long; stipules linear, ca 3 mm long, deciduous. Inflorescences terminal or at ends of short lateral branches, simple or branched, 2 – 3.5 cm long. Flowers sessile or very shortly pedicelled; pedicels up to 1.2 mm long, subglabrous; bracts ovate, minute; calyx minute, orbicular, 3 or 4-toothed, rusty tomentose, shallow in male, concave in female; disc entire or shallowly lobed, glabrous; stamens usually 4; filaments ca 1 mm long; ovary glabrous above, fulvous pubescent below; styles 2, deeply bifid. Fruits globose or ovoid, ca 6 x 4 – 5 mm; style terminal.
Fl. & Fr. Oct. – April.
Distrib. India: Evergreen forests, at 700 - 1300 m altitudes. Rare. Tamil Nadu (Tirunelveli Dist.).
Sri Lanka.
Notes. The peculiarity of this species is that the ovary is pubescent at lower half but glabrous at upper half, a character not found in any other species in this genus.
Shrubs or trees, 2 – 7 m tall; branches glabrous or finely pubescent. Leaves elliptic-ovate, ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, narrowed and acute at base, acuminate at apex, 2.5 – 21 x (1 -) 2 – 4 cm, glabrous, glossy above; lateral nerves 4 - 8 pairs; petioles 4 - 10 mm long; stipules linear, ca 3 mm long, deciduous. Inflorescences terminal or at ends of short lateral branches, simple or branched, 2 – 3.5 cm long. Flowers sessile or very shortly pedicelled; pedicels up to 1.2 mm long, subglabrous; bracts ovate, minute; calyx minute, orbicular, 3 or 4-toothed, rusty tomentose, shallow in male, concave in female; disc entire or shallowly lobed, glabrous; stamens usually 4; filaments ca 1 mm long; ovary glabrous above, fulvous pubescent below; styles 2, deeply bifid. Fruits globose or ovoid, ca 6 x 4 – 5 mm; style terminal.
Fl. & Fr. Oct. – April.
Distrib. India: Evergreen forests, at 700 - 1300 m altitudes. Rare. Tamil Nadu (Tirunelveli Dist.).
Sri Lanka.
Notes. The peculiarity of this species is that the ovary is pubescent at lower half but glabrous at upper half, a character not found in any other species in this genus.
