Ilex malabarica Beddome (AQUIFOLIACEAE)
Description: Trees up to 12 m tall. Leaves elliptic- oblong, up to 14 x 4 cm, rounded at base, acute at apex, margin, entire or rarely toothed near apex. Male flowers in short panicles of umbels. Female flowers solitary or fascicled. Calyx usually 6-lobed, ciliolate. The corolla has 4-6 orbicular lobes, ciliolate, and fused at the base. There are 4-6 stamens. The drupes are approximately 3 mm in diameter, depressed globose, puberulous, 6-celled, red, and capped with a persistent stigma.
Flowering & Fruiting: December – May
Distribution: India: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.