Neermaruthu
Scientific Name :
Terminalia cuneata Roth
Synonym(s) :
Pentaptera cuneata (Roth) DC.
Local/Common name(s) :
Neermaruthu
Family :
Combretaceae
Habit :
Tree
Flowering/Fruiting Time :
September-June
Habitat :
Dry Deciduous forests
Endemic :
No
Status (IUCN) :
Distribution :
India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar; Kerala: throughout
Nativity :
Indigenous
Uses :
Medicine, Dye, Timber, Gum, Tannin
Description (Morphology) :
Evergreen trees, to 30 m, bole often buttressed; bark 6-8 mm thick, surface pinkish-grey, smooth, flaking off in thin layers; blaze pink; exudation red, gummy; branchlets drooping. Leaves simple, opposite to alternate, estipulate; petiole 5-15 mm long, stout, grooved above, glabrous; lamina oblong, elliptic, oblong-ovate or oblong-obovate, base round, obtuse or cordate, apex obtuse or round, margin crenulate or entire, glabrous, coriaceous, 2 glands at the base on the lowerside; lateral nerves 10-17 pairs, pinnate, arched towards the margin, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, dull yellow, 2-3 mm across, in short axillary spikes; calyx tube constricted above the ovary, pubescent; lobes 5, cream, 1.5 mm, triangular, glabrous; disc 5-lobed, pilose; petals 0; stamens 10, in 2 rows; filaments 3-4 mm, subulate, exserted; anthers small; ovary ovoid, 1.5 mm, inferior, pubescent, 1-celled; ovules 2 or 3, pendulous; style subulate, small. Fruit a drupe, oblong, 5-7 winged; wings equal, lines on the wings oblique and curving upwards, apex notched; seed one.