CLUSIACEAE Poeciloneuron

Poeciloneuron [genus] (155)
P. indicum (1,345)

CLUSIACEAE Poeciloneuron

Poeciloneuron [genus] Bedd. CLUSIACEAE

S India; 2 spp. Included in Guttiferae (Willis 1973:926)

CLUSIACEAE Poeciloneuron indicum

Poeciloneuron indicum Bedd. CLUSIACEAE

Common names: Ballagi (Sahni)

SW India, endemic in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats [SW India]. Evergreen tree to 36 m, crown umbrella-shaped, massive stilt roots which in old trees are flattened into plank buttresses. Bark dark brown to gray, thick yellow juice. Lvs. opp., elliptic, leathery, smooth, to 25 cm long 6.5 cm wide, pointed tip a ‘drip tip’ to drain off rain water. Fls. yellowish-white, fragrant, bisexual, 2 cm across, in pyramidal terminal panicles to 15 cm long; sepals 4-5, petals 5-6. Fruit egg-shaped, dehiscent capsule to 4 cm across, 1 seed. Two vars, one with brown or red heart-wood called ‘white’, one with black heart-wood called ‘black’; no apparent taxonomic diff. Common at 300-900 m on wind-swept ridges. Lvs. shed in the dry season, Feb.-March, blooms Dec.-March. In Jan.-Feb. the crowns are covered with cream-colored fls. and the air is full of fragrance. Fruits June-Aug. One of the most imp. woods of the Western Ghats, long used for power-line poles and RR sleepers. Kannada name, Ballagi (Sahni 1998:29). Locally in monospecific forests (Mabberley 1998:572)

Bibliography
Mabberley, D. 1998. The Plant-Book., 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Gt. Britain.
Sahni, K. C. 1998. The Book of Indian Trees. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai.
Willis, J. 1973. A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns., 8th ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.