Atalantia recemosa Wight (RUTACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Huchu nimbe.
Description: Bushes or moderate-sized trees, reaching heights of up to 15 meters, frequently adorned with robust axillary spines, seldom without any spines. Leaves alternate, 1-foliolate; petiole 5-10 mm long, jointed at apex; leaflet elliptic-oblong or ovate-oblong, up to 10 x 4 cm, cuneate at base, emarginate at apex, entire or crenulate along margins, prominently reticulate, gland-dotted. Flowers in axillary or terminal raceme, white; peduncle up to 4 cm long. Calyx united at base, lobes 3-5, ciliate along margins. Petals usually 4, broadly elliptic or linear-oblong to obovate, up to 8 x 4 mm, obtuse. Stamens usually 8; filaments usually connate into a partial basal tube. Disc annular, fleshy. Ovary 2-3 locular; ovules 2 in each locule. Style short; stigma capitate. Berries globose, up to 2 cm across, gland-pitted, orange-coloured when ripe, 2-seeded.
Flowering: October
Fruiting: January
Distribution: India: In dry deciduous to semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats up to 1370 m. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Sri Lanka.
