Hopea racophloea Dyer (DIPTEROCARPACEAE)
Common names
Tamil: Karung Kongu.
Malayalam: Neduvali kongu.
Description: Evergreen trees; bark blackish, peeling off in long stripes from base upwards which becomes recurred and hang all round the trunk; young twigs, petioles, panicles and calyx glabrous. Leaves ovate, up to 11.5 x 6.5 cm, acute at base, shortly caudate-acuminate at apex, glabrous. Flowers in axillary panicles, yellowish-white with pink tinge. Calyx lobes 5, equal, spathulate, obtuse. Petals 5, glabrous inside, hairy outside, with a twisted, flattened appendage at apex. The stylopodium is nearly as long as the ovary, taking a cylindrical form. The fruit’s underside is smooth, and it has two wings measuring 7.5 – 8.5 cm in length, displaying a reddish color.
Flowering: April – May
Fruiting: May – August
Distribution: India: In evergreen forests of Western Ghats up to 1000 m. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.