Cleistanthus collinus
(Roxb.) Benth. ex Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 274. 1887. Clutia
collina Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 2: 37, t. 169. 1802 (as 'Cluytia') & Fl. Ind., ed. Carey 3: 732. 1832.
Andrachne orbiculata Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp. 364. 1821. Amanoa collina (Roxb.) Baill., Etude
Euphorb. 582. 1858. Lebidieropsis collina (Roxb.) Müll.Arg. in Linnaea 32: 80. 1863. L. orbiculata
(Roth) Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 509 - 510. 1866. L. orbiculata var. collina (Roxb.) Müll.Arg.,
l. c. 509. 1866.
Beng.: Karlajuri; Hind.: Garari, Garrar; Kan.: Badeda-rige; Mal.: Odugu; Or.: Karoda;
Sant.: Kargalli; Tam.: Nilaippala, Oduvamaram, Odhuvanthalai, Oduvan, Wodayu, Wodan;
Tel.: Kadishe, Korei, Wodesta; Urdu: Korada.
Shrubs or trees, 1.5 - 15 m tall; branchlets pilose when young, soon glabrous. Leaves broadly oblong, elliptic to suborbicular or orbicular-obovate, rounded to obtuse or sometimes acute at base, entire, rounded, retuse or apiculate at apex, 3 - 11 x 1.5 - 8 cm, chartaceous to stiffly coriaceous, glabrous, sometimes glaucous beneath, often glossy; lateral nerves 4 - 7 pairs, very slender; petioles 3 - 10 mm long. Inflorescences borne on main leafy branches or short lateral branches or often on special leafless branches (up to 6 cm long), the males 3 - 5-flowered, the females ca 3-flowered; bracts broad-based subulate, 1.5 – 3 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 1 - 2 mm long; sepals occasionally 6, triangular-oblong or lanceolate-oblong, 3 - 4 x 1 - 2 mm, pilose outside; petals linear, ca 0.6 mm long; disc annular, ca 2 mm in diam.; staminal column ca 1.5 mm long; filaments ca 1.2 mm long; anthers oblong, 1 - 1.5 mm long; pistillode ovoid, ca 0.5 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels 0.5 - 1.5 mm long; calyx-tube ca 1 mm long; sepals triangular-lanceolate, 4 - 5 x 1 - 3 mm; petals subulate, ca 2 x 1 mm; disc shortly cupular-annular; ovary subglobose, 2 - 2.5 x 2 - 3 mm, glabrous; styles 3 - 4 mm long, almost free or basal column ca 1.5 mm long, shortly to deeply bifid above. Fruits subglobose or widely oblong, truncate at apex, shallowly 3-lobed or 3-angled, 18 - 22 x 17 - 22 mm, glossy, glabrous, with prominent reticulate venation.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Dry deciduous forests, scrubs, along streams on rocky soil, up to 1400 m altitude, common. West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka.
Uses. A poisonous plant. The bark, leaves and fruits employed as fish poison. Forest animals keep away from it. The bark applied in skin-diseases and for severe headache. The leaves are abortifacient. The active principle, Oduvin, a yellow white crystalline glucoside soluble in alcohol and chloroform, is a slow poison. The leaves and bark contain saponin and tannin. The wood used as house post (Wealth of India, Raw Materials 2: 230. 1950).
Notes. Chromosome number: 2n = 22 (Datta, Taxon 16: 341 -350. 1967.
Shrubs or trees, 1.5 - 15 m tall; branchlets pilose when young, soon glabrous. Leaves broadly oblong, elliptic to suborbicular or orbicular-obovate, rounded to obtuse or sometimes acute at base, entire, rounded, retuse or apiculate at apex, 3 - 11 x 1.5 - 8 cm, chartaceous to stiffly coriaceous, glabrous, sometimes glaucous beneath, often glossy; lateral nerves 4 - 7 pairs, very slender; petioles 3 - 10 mm long. Inflorescences borne on main leafy branches or short lateral branches or often on special leafless branches (up to 6 cm long), the males 3 - 5-flowered, the females ca 3-flowered; bracts broad-based subulate, 1.5 – 3 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 1 - 2 mm long; sepals occasionally 6, triangular-oblong or lanceolate-oblong, 3 - 4 x 1 - 2 mm, pilose outside; petals linear, ca 0.6 mm long; disc annular, ca 2 mm in diam.; staminal column ca 1.5 mm long; filaments ca 1.2 mm long; anthers oblong, 1 - 1.5 mm long; pistillode ovoid, ca 0.5 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels 0.5 - 1.5 mm long; calyx-tube ca 1 mm long; sepals triangular-lanceolate, 4 - 5 x 1 - 3 mm; petals subulate, ca 2 x 1 mm; disc shortly cupular-annular; ovary subglobose, 2 - 2.5 x 2 - 3 mm, glabrous; styles 3 - 4 mm long, almost free or basal column ca 1.5 mm long, shortly to deeply bifid above. Fruits subglobose or widely oblong, truncate at apex, shallowly 3-lobed or 3-angled, 18 - 22 x 17 - 22 mm, glossy, glabrous, with prominent reticulate venation.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Dry deciduous forests, scrubs, along streams on rocky soil, up to 1400 m altitude, common. West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka.
Uses. A poisonous plant. The bark, leaves and fruits employed as fish poison. Forest animals keep away from it. The bark applied in skin-diseases and for severe headache. The leaves are abortifacient. The active principle, Oduvin, a yellow white crystalline glucoside soluble in alcohol and chloroform, is a slow poison. The leaves and bark contain saponin and tannin. The wood used as house post (Wealth of India, Raw Materials 2: 230. 1950).
Notes. Chromosome number: 2n = 22 (Datta, Taxon 16: 341 -350. 1967.
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