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Western Ghats Ixora
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Western Ghats Ixora
ative Photo: Pravin Kawale
Common name: Western Ghats Ixora • Marathi: Gorbale • Kokani: Gurani, Kurati
Botanical name: Ixora brachiata    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Ixora arnottiana, Ixora obtusata

Western Ghats Ixora is a small tropical tree found in evergreen forests of southern parts of India, like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, to 10 m tall. Oppositely arranged leaves, 14-16 x 3.5-6.5 cm, are elliptic-oblong or elliptic-obovate, with obtuse tip and acute base. Flowers are 5-6 mm long, white, stalkless or nearly so, in panicled cymes at branch ends. They are highly fragrant. Flower-cluster-stalk is 10-15 cm long, reddish, compressed, pubescent. The branches of the clusters are red in color and the flowers are tiny white, with 4 narrow petals. Flower tube is 5-6 mm long, narrow, with petals 2 mm long, oblong, bent abruptly backward. Fruit is 7-8 mm across, round or slightly 2-lobed, reddish; seeds 1 or 2. Flowering: December-February.

Identification credit: Pravin Kawale, Prashant Awale Photographed in Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu.

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