Horsfieldia iryaghedhi

Horsfieldia iryaghedhi
Conservation status

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Magnoliids
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Myristicaceae
Genus: Horsfieldia
Species: H. iryaghedhi
Binomial name
Horsfieldia iryaghedhi
(Gaertn.) Warb.
Synonyms

Horsfieldia odorata Willd.
(type for Horsfieldia)[1][2]

Horsfieldia iryaghedhi is a species of plant in the Myristicaceae family. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Leaves

large, oblong-lanceolate, acute ends, acuminate, beneath orange stellate-tomentose.

Trunk

Bark -thin, slightly cracked, brownish gray; branches drooping; branchlets leaf-scarred; young parts orange-tomentose.

Flowers

orange-yellow, fragrant; male numerous, very small, sessile; female fewer, larger; Inflorescence - male dense, globose, heads of orange, tomentose panicles at leafless nodes; female short axillary panicles.

Fruits

globose, rusty tomentose; aril orange,completely covers seed.

Ecology

rain forest subcanopy.

Uses

flowers, Bark - medicinal; Wood - boat and box making; flowers- temple offerings.

Culture

Known as "ruk - රුක්" in Sinhala.

In Theravada Buddhism, this plant is said to have used as the tree for achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi by sixteenth Lord Buddha called "Piyadassi - පියදස්සි". The plant is known as කුකුධ (Kukudha) in Sanskrit.

Sources

  1. ↑ "Horsfieldia odorata Willd.". The Plant List; Version 1. (published on the internet). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2012. Horsfieldia odorata Willd. is a synonym of Horsfieldia iryaghedhi (Gaertn.) Warb.
  2. ↑ Horsfieldia odorata (the type species for the genus Horsfieldia) was first described and published in Species Plantarum. Editio quarta 4(2): 872. 1806. It was later made into a synonym of H. iryaghedhi, but remains the type of record for Horsfieldia. "Name - !Horsfieldia Willd.". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved June 24, 2012.