Common name: Ceylon Tea • Hindi: जमरासी Jamrasi, मलकाकनी Malkakni, Kondagaidh, ढेबरी Dhebri • Marathi: Motha bhutya, Butkus • Tamil: கருவலீ Karuvali, கந்நீரமரம் Kanniramaram • Telugu: నిరిజా Nirija, Noorijia, Bhutan-kusama • Kannada: Kannurmara, Mookurichi, Kannire
Botanical name: Elaeodendron glaucum Family: Celastraceae (Spike-thorn family)
Synonyms: Cassine glauca, Mangifera glauca
Ceylon Tea is a large evergreen tree, upto 5 meters high. The genus name Elaeodendron means, olive tree - maybe referring to the ovoid fruit. Branchlets are
reddish; bark red inside, exuding a watery sap when cut. Leaves are simple,
opposite, 3-16 x 1.5-7.5 cm, elliptic, ovate-oblong or obovate, glabrous,
dark green, shining above, glaucous beneath; petiole 0.5-1 cm long,
channelled. Inflorescence is an axillary dichotomous cyme; Flower white or
greenish yellow. Stamens four, inserted on the margin of the disk,
recurved; anthers with a bilobed connective. Stamens shorter than petals.
Disk thick and fleshy. Ovary 4-celled united with the disk; style short;
fruit green in colour, ovoid and a drupe. In the Western Ghats, it is found
in Satara, Pune, Konkan (Harishchandragad). Flowering: February-May.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale
| Photographed at Nimgiri, Maharashtra. |
|
ative
