Polyalthia suberosa - Corky Debbar Tree

Corky Debbar Tree is a shrub or small tree, 4-6 m tall, branching from base; bark corky, rough, reddish inside; young branches rufous woolly. Leaves are oblong or oblong-lanceshaped, slightly narrowed at base, blunt at tip, 4-10.5 x 1.5-3.5 cm, hairless and shiny above, velvet-hairy and pale beneath; leaf-stalks 2-3 mm long, brown velvet-hairy. Flowers are 8-10 mm long, greenish yellow, above or below leaf-axils, solitary, rarely in pairs. Flower-stalks are slender, 1.5-2.5 cm long; bracts 2, one basal and the other at middle of flower-stalk, ovate, pointed, minute, velvet-hairy. Sepals are 3, spreading, ovate, pointed, about 2 x 1 mm, velvet-hairy outside, hairless inside. Petals are 6 (3 + 3), reddish brown; outer petals ovate to oblong-lanceshaped, pointed, slightly reflexed, about 6 x 4 - 5 cm, thickly leathery, silky velvet-hairy outside, hairless inside; inner ones slightly longer. Stamens are numerous, about 1 mm long; connectives slightly convex at top. Corky Debbar Tree is found in India in West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is also found in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Malaysia and Philippines. Flowering: April-May.