Bridelia montana
(Roxb.) Willd., Sp. Pl. ed. 4, 4: 978. 1806; Hook.f., Fl. India 5: 269. 1887;
p. p.; Duthie, Fl. Gangetic Plain 2: 86. 1905; Haines, Bot. Bihar Orissa 2: 120. 1921; Gamble, Fl.
Madras 2(7): 1281. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 896. 1957). Clutia montana Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 38, t. 171.
1798 (as 'Cluytia'). Bridelia hamiltoniana Wall. ex Müll.Arg. in Linnaea 34: 77. 1865 & in DC.,
Prodr. 15(2): 500. 1866, p. p.; excl. var. glabra; Hook.f., l. c. 271. 1887. B. montana var. hamiltoniana
(Wall. ex Müll.Arg.) Haines, l. c. 120. 1921.
Tel.: Pantenga.
Shrubs, up to 3.5 m tall, entirely glabrous. Leaves cuneate-obovate, obovate-oblong to rhombate, sometimes suborbicular or sublyrate, cuneate or acute at base, entire, rounded, obtuse, apiculate or sometimes acuminate at apex, 4 - 12 x 2 - 5.5 cm, chartaceous to thinly coriaceous; lateral nerves 4 - 10 pairs, mostly bifurcating midway, joining the superadjacents forming loops, sometimes (ca 20% unbranched secondaries or one of the bifurcated branches) terminating directly at the marginal veins; petioles 3 - 5 mm long; stipules linear-subulate to filiform, 2.5 – 7 x 0.3 – 1 mm. Inflorescences on main leafy branches, 5 - 8 mm in diam., mostly bisexual; bracts broadly triangular to deltoid, ca 2.5 mm long. Male flowers: sessile or pedicels up to 0.5 mm long; calyx ca 2.5 x 3 - 4 mm; sepals triangular, 1.5 - 2 x 1 - 1.5 mm; petals flabellate, ca 1 x 1.5 mm; disc flat, entire, ca 1.5 mm in diam.; stamens 1.5 - 1.8 mm long; column 0.5 - 0.8 mm long; filaments ca 0.5 mm long. Female flowers: sessile to subsessile; calyx 3 - 3.5 mm in diam., sepals rarely 6, triangular-oblong, ca 2 x 1 mm; petals 0.5 - 2 mm long; outer disc patelliform, ca 1.5 mm in diam., inner disc urceolate, lobulate, covering the ovary; ovary subglobose or ovoid, ca 1 x 1.2 mm, 2-locular; styles ca 1 mm long, almost free, deeply bifid. Fruits sessile to subsessile, subglobose, 4 - 9 x 5 - 10 mm, shallowly to prominently bilobed, 2-seeded or often 1-seeded by abortion; fruiting calyx ca 4 mm in diam.
Fl. Aug. - Nov.; Fr. Oct. - Jan.
Distrib. India: Edges and outskirts of forests, up to 1000 m altitude, common. Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Endemic.
Notes. Chromosome number: 2n - 26 (Mehra & Hans, Taxon 18: 310. 1969).
Shrubs, up to 3.5 m tall, entirely glabrous. Leaves cuneate-obovate, obovate-oblong to rhombate, sometimes suborbicular or sublyrate, cuneate or acute at base, entire, rounded, obtuse, apiculate or sometimes acuminate at apex, 4 - 12 x 2 - 5.5 cm, chartaceous to thinly coriaceous; lateral nerves 4 - 10 pairs, mostly bifurcating midway, joining the superadjacents forming loops, sometimes (ca 20% unbranched secondaries or one of the bifurcated branches) terminating directly at the marginal veins; petioles 3 - 5 mm long; stipules linear-subulate to filiform, 2.5 – 7 x 0.3 – 1 mm. Inflorescences on main leafy branches, 5 - 8 mm in diam., mostly bisexual; bracts broadly triangular to deltoid, ca 2.5 mm long. Male flowers: sessile or pedicels up to 0.5 mm long; calyx ca 2.5 x 3 - 4 mm; sepals triangular, 1.5 - 2 x 1 - 1.5 mm; petals flabellate, ca 1 x 1.5 mm; disc flat, entire, ca 1.5 mm in diam.; stamens 1.5 - 1.8 mm long; column 0.5 - 0.8 mm long; filaments ca 0.5 mm long. Female flowers: sessile to subsessile; calyx 3 - 3.5 mm in diam., sepals rarely 6, triangular-oblong, ca 2 x 1 mm; petals 0.5 - 2 mm long; outer disc patelliform, ca 1.5 mm in diam., inner disc urceolate, lobulate, covering the ovary; ovary subglobose or ovoid, ca 1 x 1.2 mm, 2-locular; styles ca 1 mm long, almost free, deeply bifid. Fruits sessile to subsessile, subglobose, 4 - 9 x 5 - 10 mm, shallowly to prominently bilobed, 2-seeded or often 1-seeded by abortion; fruiting calyx ca 4 mm in diam.
Fl. Aug. - Nov.; Fr. Oct. - Jan.
Distrib. India: Edges and outskirts of forests, up to 1000 m altitude, common. Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Endemic.
Notes. Chromosome number: 2n - 26 (Mehra & Hans, Taxon 18: 310. 1969).
