Psydrax dicoccos
Species of plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Psydrax dicoccos is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is found from southeast China to tropical Asia.
| Psydrax dicoccos | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Rubiaceae |
| Genus: | Psydrax |
| Species: | P. dicoccos |
| Binomial name | |
| Psydrax dicoccos | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Canthium dicoccum (Gaertn.) Merr. | |
Botany
Commonly known as 'Ceylon box wood' or 'malakafe', it is an unarmed, smooth shrub 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13.1 ft) or more in height. Leaves are extremely variable, ovate, elliptic, ovate or somewhat rounded, 5 to 15 centimeters long, 1.5 to 10 centimeters wide, leathery, shining above, and usually pointed at both ends. Flowers are white, with very slender stalks, 5 to 10 millimeters long, and borne in compressed, short-stalked cymes. Calyx is cut off at the end or obscurely toothed. Corolla is bell-shaped, with a 4- to 6-millimeter tube, and five somewhat pointed lobes. Fruit is rounded, ellipsoid or obovoid, 6 to 10 millimeters long, slightly flattened and obscurely two-lobed.
