FoI
Black Ixora
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Black Ixora
ative elliptic Photo: Dinesh Valke
Common name: Black Ixora, cuspidate leaved jungle geranium • Kannada: adayala, kisugaare • Konkani: लोखंडी lokhandi • Malayalam: cherukuravu • Marathi: काटकुडा katkuda • Tamil: ஊதாப்பூ utappu
Botanical name: Ixora nigricans    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Ixora affinis, Ixora arguta, Pavetta erubescens, Ixora plumea

Black Ixora is a large shrub up to 5 m tall. Branchlets are round to compressed, hairless. Leaves are simple, opposite. Stipules are linear, subulate with broad base to 0.9 cm long. Leaf-stalks are 0.4-1.2 cm long, hairless, planoconvex in cross section, sometimes canaliculate due to folding of its margin. Leaves are 6-16 x 2-6 cm, variable in shape, narrow elliptic to elliptic or oblanceolate to narrow-obovate, tip long-pointed, base narrow to flat, margin entire, papery, hairless, black when dry. Midrib is flat above; secondary nerves 6-12 pairs. White flowers are borne at branch ends in panicled cymes. Fruit is a berry 0.7 cm across, nearly round, with two seeds. Black Ixora is found in throughout the forests of Western Ghats.

Identification credit: Giby Kuriakose Photographed at Mollem National Park, South Goa.

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