1212

 Ficus drupacea Thunb.

Synonym

:

Ficus drupacea var. subrepanda (Wall. ex King) D.Basu

Family

:

Moraceae

Local name

:

Malayalam- .Kallal

Flowering and fruiting period

:

March-April

Distribution

.

India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Laos

Distribution in Kerala

:

All Districts

Habitat

:

 Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in the plains

Key botanical characters:

Trees to 25 m high; aerial roots often numerous, arising in tufts from the stout branches; bark surface greyish-brown, smooth; exudation milky; young shoots brown pubescent. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, subdistichous, ovate or elliptic-ovate, apex abruptly acuminate,base round or subcordate, margin entire, tender leaves tomentose below, glabrous above and scurfy tomentose beneath when mature, coriaceous; 3-5-ribbed from base, lateral nerves 9-13 pairs, parallel, prominent beneath, intercostae reticulate, prominent; stipule lateral, broadly lanceolate, tomentose; petiole 1.2-3.5 cm long, stout, grooved above, glandular at apex below, tomentose. Flowers unisexual; inflorescence a syconium, sessile, in axillary pairs, ellipsoid-globose, thick walled, tomentose without, at first covered by stout conical tomentose stipule; basal bracts 3,orbicular, concave, brown-pilose without, obtuse, orifice umbonate, closed by 3-4 apical bracts, not forming a flat disc; internal bristles a few; flowers of 4 kinds; male flowers disperse, numerous; pedicel to 4 mm long; tepals 2-3, free, brown, acute; stamen 1, exserted; filament sessile; tepals 3-4, free, brown, acute, ovary superior, obovoid, 0.7 mm, brown; style filiform 2 mm; gall flowers pedicellate; pedicel 0.2-3.5 mm; tepals 3, free; ovary obovoid; style short, subterminal. Syconium, orange red when ripe; achene smooth.




Popular posts from this blog