Ixora chinensis

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

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  • Botanical Name : Ixora chinensis Lam.
  • Common Name : Scarlet Ixora, Flame Tree of Woods, Bakora, Ishvaku
  • Plant Family : Rubiaceae
  • Plant Form : Shrub
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 15, 21, 28
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Aranya Van

About Ixora chinensis Plant :

  • Habit : A small shrub.
  • Leaves : Sessile, opposite, elliptic, ovate or obovate, with a sharp point, cordate at base, coriaceous, stipules interpetiolar, triangular, awned.
  • Flowers :
    • Incompact corymbs with two small, leaf-like bracts.
    • Individual flowers with 2 bracteoles at the base.
    • Calyx-teeth 4, triangular, acute, reddish at the tips.
    • Corolla salver-shaped with a slender-tube and 4 spreading, ovate, acute lobes, twisted in bud, bright scarlet in colour.
    • Stamens 4, on short filaments attached to the throat, alternate with the corolla lobes.
    • Ovary inferior, 2-celled,stylefiliform, stigma fusiform.
  • Fruit : Globose, berry.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : Throughout the year but at its best during the rains.
  • Significance : Commonly cultivated in the gardens for its beautiful and handsome scarlet flowers.