Flueggea leucopyrus
Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4, 4: 757. 1806; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 328.
1887; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2(7): 1296. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 907. 1957); Webster in Allertonia 3(4): 295.
1984. K.D.Koenig ex Roxb., Fl. Ind., ed. Carey 3: 658. 1832. Securinega
leucopyrus (Willd.) Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 451. 1866.
Hindi: Dalme, Harthe, Hartho; Kan.: Bili shooli gida; Mal.: Perinclavu; Sans.: Swetakambhoja;
Tam.: Madpulanti, Pulanji; Tel.: Tella-pali, Tella-pulugudu, Tella-purugudu.
Shrubs, 1.5 - 4 m high, entirely glabrous; lateral branchlets (bearing leaves) spinescent at tips. Leaves obovate (cuneate-obovate, obovate-elliptic, orbicular-obovate) to orbicular or obcordate, acute, obtuse, rounded or cuneate at base, entire, obtuse, rounded, truncate or emarginate at apex, 0.8 - 3 x 0.3 - 2 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, glaucescent beneath; lateral nerves 4 - 5 (- 7) pairs; petioles 1 - 5 (- 8) mm long; stipules triangular, 0.5 - 1 mm long, persistent. Inflorescences arising precociously, axillary or at leafless nodes, male flowers many (20 - 40 per cymule) and glomerulate, the females 1 - 3 in fascicles at each node. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 4 mm long; sepals 5, ovate, elliptic to suborbicular, 0.6 - 1 x 0.5 - 1 cm; disc glands 5, angular, ca 0.3 mm in diam.; stamens 5, 1 - 2 mm long; anthers suborbicular, ca 0.4 mm long; pistillode ca 1 mm long, trifid at apex. Female flowers: pedicels 1.5 - 2.5 x ca 0.4 mm; sepals 5, ovate-triangular or elliptic, 0.8 - 1.5 x 0.6 - 1 mm, persistent in fruit; disc flat, ca 0.8 mm in diam.; ovary ovoid, ca 1.2 x 0.8 mm, 3-locular; styles 3, ca 0.8 mm long. Fruits subglobose, capsular or baccate, 2 - 3 (- 5) x 4 - 4.5 (- 8) mm, white or brown when dry, unlobed, with prominent reticulate venation; seeds plano-convex, 2 – 2.5 mm across, smooth, brown.
Fl. & Fr. March - Dec.
Distrib. India: Thickets, scrub forests, edges of deciduous or semideciduous forests, up to 1000 m altitude. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar and China.
Uses. Leaves made into a paste and applied over sores.
Notes. Chromosome number: n = 28 (Gill & Bedi, Taxon 28: 402. 1979).
Shrubs, 1.5 - 4 m high, entirely glabrous; lateral branchlets (bearing leaves) spinescent at tips. Leaves obovate (cuneate-obovate, obovate-elliptic, orbicular-obovate) to orbicular or obcordate, acute, obtuse, rounded or cuneate at base, entire, obtuse, rounded, truncate or emarginate at apex, 0.8 - 3 x 0.3 - 2 cm, chartaceous to coriaceous, glaucescent beneath; lateral nerves 4 - 5 (- 7) pairs; petioles 1 - 5 (- 8) mm long; stipules triangular, 0.5 - 1 mm long, persistent. Inflorescences arising precociously, axillary or at leafless nodes, male flowers many (20 - 40 per cymule) and glomerulate, the females 1 - 3 in fascicles at each node. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 4 mm long; sepals 5, ovate, elliptic to suborbicular, 0.6 - 1 x 0.5 - 1 cm; disc glands 5, angular, ca 0.3 mm in diam.; stamens 5, 1 - 2 mm long; anthers suborbicular, ca 0.4 mm long; pistillode ca 1 mm long, trifid at apex. Female flowers: pedicels 1.5 - 2.5 x ca 0.4 mm; sepals 5, ovate-triangular or elliptic, 0.8 - 1.5 x 0.6 - 1 mm, persistent in fruit; disc flat, ca 0.8 mm in diam.; ovary ovoid, ca 1.2 x 0.8 mm, 3-locular; styles 3, ca 0.8 mm long. Fruits subglobose, capsular or baccate, 2 - 3 (- 5) x 4 - 4.5 (- 8) mm, white or brown when dry, unlobed, with prominent reticulate venation; seeds plano-convex, 2 – 2.5 mm across, smooth, brown.
Fl. & Fr. March - Dec.
Distrib. India: Thickets, scrub forests, edges of deciduous or semideciduous forests, up to 1000 m altitude. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar and China.
Uses. Leaves made into a paste and applied over sores.
Notes. Chromosome number: n = 28 (Gill & Bedi, Taxon 28: 402. 1979).