Orophea thomsonii or Thomson's Turret Flower is a species of shrub or small tree in the Annonaceae family. It is native to Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India and endemic to the Western Ghats mountain range.[1]
| Orophea thomsonii | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Magnoliales |
| Family: | Annonaceae |
| Genus: | Orophea |
| Species: | O. thomsoni
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| Binomial name | |
| Orophea thomsoni Beddome
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Description edit
Woody evergreen plants, occurring as large shrubs or small trees up to 10 m tall. The tree has slender branches with the young branchlets being tomentose and holding waxy leaves to forming a canopy in the understorey of evergreen forests. Leaves are simple, alternate, and distichous, with short petioles (0.2-0.5 cm), cuneate or acute base, small lamina (5-7 x 2.5-3.5 cm), and about 6 pairs of secondary nerves. The tertiary nerves are reticulate. The leaves are hairless except for the midrib beneath. The leaf shape is ovate or ovate-elliptic with a long acuminate, rounded tip. The flowers are creamy white, found solitary or in cymes of 2–3 at the axils of leaves. The outer petals are strigose (with stiff hairs), inner pubescent inside. The peduncles are strigose and the pedicels are very short, slender, pubescent. The flower has oblong and horizontal nectaries, 10-12 stamens and 5-6 carpels. The fruit is a short-stalked, pea-sized, round berry about 8 mm in diameter, found in clusters, each with 1-2 round, brown seeds that appear wrinkled and pitted.[2][3]
Taxonomy edit
There are no synonyms of this species.
Distribution and habitat edit
The species is found along the Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, from Palakkad and Nilgiris District and further south in the Anamalai and Agasthyamalai Hills. It occurs in mid-elevation tropical wet evergreen forests between 250 and 1250 m above mean sea level.
Uses edit
The plant is known to have medicinal uses among the indigenous people in Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.[4]
References edit
- ^ a b World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). "Orophea thomsoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1998: e.T31159A9610217. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T31159A9610217.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Orophea thomsoni - ANNONACEAE". www.biotik.org. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "Orophea thomsonii Bedd. | Species". India Biodiversity Portal. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Ayyanar, Muniappan; Ignacimuthu, Savarimuthu; Houghton, Peter J. (1 June 2014). "Threat Status of Medicinal Plants Used by the Tribal People in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Southern Western Ghats, India". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences. 84 (2): 419–429. doi:10.1007/s40011-013-0224-4. ISSN 2250-1746.
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