Drypetes venusta

Drypetes venusta is an evergreen tree species endemic to the Western Ghats, India. They are large trees with smooth, straight, and white trunk and horizontal branches. It can reach a height up to 35 m, and a girth up to 3 m.

Description

The leaves are simple with alternate phyllotaxy and elliptic or elliptic oblong shape. Leaf size is about 5-12 × 2-5 cm. Leaf base is oblique, and apex is acute or shortly acuminate. There will be 8-12 pairs secondary nerves. The petiole length is 0.4-1 cm. Flowers are dioecious, and greenish yellow in colour. The male flowers are seen in axillary clusters with pedicel length of 1-1.5 cm. The female flowers are axillary, seen either solitary or in pairs, with pedicel length up to 6 cm. Fruit are ellipsoid or obovoid, green in colour, and drooping.

Distribution

This is a common tree in low and medium elevation evergreen forests of Western Ghats from Lonavala to Thiruvananthapuram. The altitudinal range is from 200 m to 1200 m.