Bark
Branchlets are reddish; bark red inside, exuding a watery sap when cut.
Syn. Cassine paniculata
Branchlets are reddish; bark red inside, exuding a watery sap when cut.
Leaves are simple, opposite, 3-16 x 1.5-7.5 cm, elliptic, ovate-oblong or obovate, glabrous, dark green, shining above, glaucous beneath; petiole 0.5-1 cm long, channelled.
White to greenish-yellow, in small axillary branched clusters, with four backward-curved stamens, fleshy central disc, and four-chambered ovary.
Fruit green in colour, ovoid and a drupe.
As the tree reaches extreme old age, the centre of its trunk can become completely hollow. Despite losing its inner heartwood, the tree’s outer ring remains robust enough to support its massive upper canopy.
SW. India, Sri Lanka