Woolly Gogan is a tree about 8 m tall, with
branchlets stout, densely brown woolly. It is named for Dr. William
Griffith, 19th century botanist and curator of the Botanic Garden in
Calcutta. Flowers are borne in leaf-axils, in 15-33 cm long, densely
woolly clusters, carried on flower-stalks 1-1.7 cm. Petals are 5, pink,
overlapping, obovate-round, base fused, white, red, yellow or pink.
Sepals are broadly elliptic, 4-5 mm wide, below sparsely to densely
woolly. Stamens 52-54. Ovary is nearly spherical, hairless; styles 5,
fused below middle. Bracteoles are 2, above middle, narrowly elliptic,
about 8 x 3 mm, below woolly. Leaf-stalks are 4.5-5 cm, stout, scaly,
woolly; leaf blade broadly or narrowly elliptic-oblong, 20-40 x 8-17
cm, leathery, below flocculently brown or rusty woolly, above hairless,
lateral veins 37-40 pairs, base blunt to rounded, symmetrical to
oblique, margin remotely bristly-sawtoothed, tip abruptly tapering.
Woolly Gogan is found in Broad-leaved forests at altitudes of
600-1300 m, in Tibet, Bhutan, NE India, N Vietnam.
Identification credit: Momang Taram
Photographed in Arunachal Pradesh.
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The flower labeled Woolly Gogan is ...