Mitragyna tubulosa (Arn.) Havil. (RUBIACEAE)
Common name
Malayalam: Malan thumba.
Description: Deciduous trees, up to 15 m tall. Leaves opposite, elliptic-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 5-12 x 2-4 cm long, cordate at base, acuminate at apex, pubescent beneath; main nerves 10-12 pairs; petioles ca 2.5 cm long; stipules large, obovate. Flowers in globose axillary and terminal heads, purple. Calyx limbs tubular, truncate, lobes 5. Corolla 5-lobed. Stamens 5, on the throat of the corolla tube. The ovary is 2-locular with a filiform style, and the stigma is mitriform. The fruit is a glabrous, ribbed capsule, forming a globose head and measuring approximately 2 cm across. Numerous flattened seeds are present.
Fruiting : December.
Distribution: India: Western Peninsula, West Coast, Travancore in both evergreen and deciduous forests, often in grassy lands at the foot of the hills. Sri Lanka.