129
Persea
macrantha (Nees) Kosterm.
Synonym : Machilus macrantha Nees
Family
: Lauraceae
Local Names
: Kulamavu, Uravu,
Large-Flowered Bay Tree
Flowering
and fruiting period:
December – May
Distribution: Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
Habitat: Evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous
forests, also in sacred groves
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: No
Uses: It is a traditional medicinal plant being used in
the treatment of asthma and rheumatism
Key
Characters:
Evergreen
tree growing to 30 m high. Bark surface pale brown, mottled with dark blotches.
Leaves simple, alternate, clustered at the tip of branchlets with
elliptic-oblong lamina. Flowers bisexual, pale yellow, in panicles from upper
axils and terminal. Perianth tube short, tepals 6, in 2 series, persistent in
fruit. Stamens 9; anthers 4-celled; staminodes 3. Ovary half inferior,
monolocular; ovule 1, pendulous. Fruit is a berry, globose, green with white
specks, aromatic, epicarp turn red when ripe; seed one, globose.
