| Type | Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Family | Euphorbiaceae |
| Synonym | Cleisanthus oblongifolius Roxb. |
| Synonym_2 | Croton roxburghii Balakr. |
| Local Name | Somaraji |
| Local Name 2 | Somarayam |
| Habit | Small sized tree |
| Botanical Features | Small trees; bark grey or brownish; young shoots covered with minute orbicular silvery scales. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, turning red before falling; 11-23 x 3.5-7.5 cm; elliptic, obovate, elliptic-obovate, elliptic-oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, base acute or cuneate, apex acute, margin more or less crenate or young, coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-13 pairs, pinnate, slender, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent; stipules lateral; petiole 15-40 mm long, stout, slightly grooved above, swollen at tip and base, silver lepidote scales present. Flowers unisexual, pale yellowish-green, solitary or fascicled in the axils of minute bracts on long erect often fascicled racemes, the males in the upper part of the raceme, the females in the lower part; male flowers: pedicels of variable length, slender; sepals 5, ovate, obtuse; petals elliptic-lanceolate, obtuse, woolly; stamens 12, inflexed in bud; lower half of the filaments hairy; female flowers: pedicels short, stout; sepals 5, ovate, acute, ciliate; petals 5, obovate, margin densely woolly; ovary 3-celleed, ovule 1 in each cell; styles 3, each again divided into 2 longer slender curled branches. Fruit a capsule, subglobose, depressed, slightly 3-lobed, lepidote scaly; seeds 3. |