| Type | Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Family | Ternstroemiaceae |
| Local Name | Kattukaruna |
| Local Name 2 | Karikkova |
| Habit | Small sized tree |
| Botanical Features | Trees, to 20 m high, bark greyish-white, 6 mm thick, smooth; branchlets tomentose. Leaves simple, alternate; petiole 2-10 mm, slender, glabrous; lamina 3.5-15 x 1.5-5 cm, elliptic, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-oblanceolate, base cuneate, acute or attenuate, apex acute, acuminate or obtuse, margin crenate or serrate, glabrous, coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-16 pairs, pinnate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, white, solitary, terminal or upper axillary; pedicels 2-5 mm long, pubescent; sepals 5, free, unequal, 3-8 x 6-10 mm, orbicular, pubescent outside, glabrous inside; petals 5, 1.5-2 x 0.8-1 cm, obovate, pubescent outside, glabrous inside; stamens numerous, 4-8 mm long, unequal, adnate to the base of the petals; ovary superior, ovoid, tomentose 5-celled, ovule 4-8 in each cell; style ; stigma 6-lobed. Fruit a capsule, 2.5-3 × 1-1.25 cm, 5-angled, seeds ellipsoid, winged, wings 6-10 mm long, brownish. |