Chandigarh Forest Flora
A Comprehensive Database of Ligneous Plants of Chandigarh (India)
Designed & Developed by Bioinformatics Centre, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun
| Family: Apocynaceae | Genus: Alstonia | Species: Alstonia scholaris (Linn.) R. Br. |
Habit |
Leaf |
Flower |
Fruit |
Bark |
|
|
| Synonym | Echites scholaris Linn. | Flower Color | Greenish |
| Common Name | Scholar Tree, Dita bark, Devil tree, Blackboard Tree | Flower Type | Panicle |
| English / Trade Name | Shaitan Wood, Dita Bark Tree, Devil Tree | Flowering Period | Oct-Dec |
| Vernacular /Local Name | Devil’s tree | Fruiting Period | Oct-Dec |
| Altitude | 200-700 m. | Fruit Type | Follicle |
| Habit | Tree | Fruit Details | Fruit a pendulous, two-lobed, dehiscent follicle, brown or green, dry or woody, spindle-shaped, 15-32 cm long, 4-6 mm in diameter, containing numerous flat, oblong, brown seeds, 4-5 × 0.9-1.2 mm, with a tuft of hairs 7-13 mm long at each end. The seed does not taper to a point at either end. |
| Habitat | Open evergreen forests to moist deciduous forests | Bark Type | Fissured |
| Distribution | South and South East Asia to Australia | Bark Details | Bark greyish-brown, lenticellate Latex milky white exudate |
| Distribution in chandigarh | Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandigarh Botanical Garden and Nature Park, Butterfly Park , Sukhna Choe Reserve Forest & Sukhna Lake , Sector 27, Sector 32 | Origin | Native |
| Leaf Type | Simple | ||
| Leaf Arrangement | Whorled (leaves in groups of 3 or more along stem) | ||
| Leaf Shape | Elliptic | ||
| Description of Species | A medium to large tree, to about 40 m high with a somewhat tessellated corky grey to grey-white bark. The boles of larger trees are strongly fluted to 10 m. The outer blaze is cream to yellowish in colour with abundant, milky latex that flows rapidly when cut Leaves in whorls of 4-8 in the upper axils; leaf stalks 1-1.5 cm long, the lamina obovate to elliptical or elliptical-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, tapering towards the base, 11.5-23 x 4-7.5 cm. Upper surface is dark green, the lower green-white with 25-40 pairs of lateral veins on each side of the midrib and 2-6 mm apart. The tip of the leaf is rounded or shortly pointed, tapering towards the base. The inflorescence is a much-branched terminal panicle, up to 120 cm long; flowers 7-10 mm long white, cream or green; the tube hairy; lobes sparsely or densely pubescent, 1.5-4 mm long, the left margins overlapping; strongly perfumed. Fruit a pendulous, two-lobed, dehiscent follicle, brown or green, dry or woody, spindle-shaped, 15-32 cm long, 4-6 mm in diameter, containing numerous flat, oblong, brown seeds, 4-5 x 0.9-1.2 mm, with a tuft of hairs 7-13 mm long at each end. | Leaf Details | Leaves in whorls of 4-8 in the upper axils; leaf stalks 1-1.5 cm long, the lamina obovate to elliptical or elliptical-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, tapering towards the base, 11.5-23 x 4-7.5 cm. Upper surface is dark green, the lower green-white with 25-40 pairs of lateral veins on each side of the midrib and 2-6 mm apart. The tip of the leaf is rounded or shortly pointed, tapering towards the base |
