Aporosa octandra
(Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) A.R. Vickery in Enum. Fl. Pl. Nepal 3: 193.
1982. Myrica octandra Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 56. 1825. Alnus dioica Roxb., Fl.
Ind., ed. Carey 3: 580. 1832. Scepa villosa Lindl., Nat. Syst. Bot., ed. 2: 441. 1836. Lepidostachys
Roxburghii Wall. ex Lindl., Nat. Syst. Bot., ed. 2, 441. 1836. Aporosa villosa (Lindl.) Baill., Etude
Euphorb. 645. 1858; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 345. 1887. A. roxburghii (Wall. ex Lindl.) Baill., l. c.
645. 1858; Kanjilal et al., Fl. Assam 4: 162. 1940, p. p. A. dioica (Roxb.) Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr.
15(2): 472. 1866; Haines, Bot. Bihar Orissa 2: 137. 1921. A. lindleyana (Wight) Baill. var.
macrostachya Müll.Arg. in Flora 47: 519. 1847 & in DC., Prod. 15(2): 473. 1866. A. glabrifolia
Kurz in Trimen, J. Bot. 13: 330. 1875 & in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 45(3): 147. 1876;
Hook.f., l. c. 349. 1887. A. villosula Kurz in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2. Nat. Hist. 42(2): 23. 1873
& Forest Fl. Burma 2: 362. 1877; Hook.f., l. c. 347. 1887; C.E. Parkinson, Forest Fl. Andaman Isl.
237. 1923.
Asm.: Bara-heloch, Khokora; Beng.: Kokra; Lus.: Sontul; Mani.: Tinsibi; Mik.: Tamsirarong;
Nep.: Asare, Barakaunli, Chiplikhari, Hare-kusum, Kaghalai; Or.: Ban-char, Mossn.
Shrubs or trees, 2 - 12 m tall; branchlets villous to glabrous. Leaves narrowly to broadly oblong to elliptic or lanceolate or broadly ovate to ovate-elliptic, acute, obtuse to rounded or truncate to cordate at base, entire to sinuate-crenate or coarsely denticulate along margins, acuminate or sometimes caudate or often acute to obtuse or apiculate at apex, 6 - 25 x 2.5 - 12 cm, coriaceous or chartaceous, glossy, glabrous or villous on midrib above, villous or tomentellous to glabrous beneath; lateral nerves 5 - 10 pairs; petioles 4 - 30 mm long. Male inflorescences 2- 7 cm long; sepals 4, ovate-triangular to oblong, 1 - 1.5 x ca 1 mm; stamens 2, ca 1 mm long. Female inflorescences axillary or rarely cauliflorous, fasciculate or on peduncles (up to 2 cm long); sepals 4, oblong, elliptic, triangular or ovate, 1.2 - 3 x 0.8 - 2 mm; ovary ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.5 - 3 mm in diam., villous, (1 -) 2-locular; style-column 1 - 2 mm long; stigmas 2, flabellate, bilobed. Fruits ovoid, obovoid to occasionally subglobose or rarely conical, 10 - 18 x 7 - 13 mm, (1 -) 2-locular, thin-walled, tomentellous to glabrous, drying brown to black; seeds 1 or 2, planoconvex, 6 – 10 x 4 – 7 mm, black.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Subtropical evergreen forests, mixed forests, primary forests, grasslands, on sandy, clayey or rocky soil, up to 1200 m altitude. Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Orissa and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi.
Uses. The plant yields fodder. Timber used for construction of houses. Bark yields a red dye. A decoction of leaves used to dye clothes black in NE. India. The fruits are edible.
Shrubs or trees, 2 - 12 m tall; branchlets villous to glabrous. Leaves narrowly to broadly oblong to elliptic or lanceolate or broadly ovate to ovate-elliptic, acute, obtuse to rounded or truncate to cordate at base, entire to sinuate-crenate or coarsely denticulate along margins, acuminate or sometimes caudate or often acute to obtuse or apiculate at apex, 6 - 25 x 2.5 - 12 cm, coriaceous or chartaceous, glossy, glabrous or villous on midrib above, villous or tomentellous to glabrous beneath; lateral nerves 5 - 10 pairs; petioles 4 - 30 mm long. Male inflorescences 2- 7 cm long; sepals 4, ovate-triangular to oblong, 1 - 1.5 x ca 1 mm; stamens 2, ca 1 mm long. Female inflorescences axillary or rarely cauliflorous, fasciculate or on peduncles (up to 2 cm long); sepals 4, oblong, elliptic, triangular or ovate, 1.2 - 3 x 0.8 - 2 mm; ovary ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.5 - 3 mm in diam., villous, (1 -) 2-locular; style-column 1 - 2 mm long; stigmas 2, flabellate, bilobed. Fruits ovoid, obovoid to occasionally subglobose or rarely conical, 10 - 18 x 7 - 13 mm, (1 -) 2-locular, thin-walled, tomentellous to glabrous, drying brown to black; seeds 1 or 2, planoconvex, 6 – 10 x 4 – 7 mm, black.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Subtropical evergreen forests, mixed forests, primary forests, grasslands, on sandy, clayey or rocky soil, up to 1200 m altitude. Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Orissa and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi.
Uses. The plant yields fodder. Timber used for construction of houses. Bark yields a red dye. A decoction of leaves used to dye clothes black in NE. India. The fruits are edible.
