Bridelia ovata - Burma Bridelia

Burma Bridelia is a scrambling shrub or small tree, up to 8 m high, crown flattened; branches hairless, with scattered warts. Bark is fissured, dark greyish brown. This species can be recognised by its rather large, broadly elliptic and papery leaves with more than 14 pairs of secondary veins and the often prominent olive blackish color in dry state. The branches and leaves are entirely hairless and the latter are blunt on both ends. Leaves are elliptic to slightly obovate, 5-18 by 2-8 cm. Flowers are borne in multibracteate glomerules of 1-20 nearly stalkless to shortly stalked yellowish green flowers. Bracts are ovate-triangular, up to 2 x 1-1.5 mm. Flowers are nearly stalkless to shortly stalked (male flowers mostly), flower-stalk up to 2 mm long, hairless, female flowers base or flower-stalk often shorter and stouter, up to 1.5 mm in diameter; sepals triangular, up to 2 x 1.5 mm, hairless, greenish cream tinged with red; petals elliptic, 0.5-1.2 x 0.7-1 mm, tip roundish or notched, whitish yellow; disc hairless. Fruits are depressed-ellipsoid, notched at tip, bilobate, sometimes obconical at base, 5-7 x 6-7.5 x 7-8 mm, fleshy, pale greenish purple when fresh, dry blackish. Burma Bridelia is found in Andaman Islands, Jawa; Lesser Sunda Is.; Malaya, Burma, Sumatera. Thailand.