Macaranga indica Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5: 23. (1852)

Synonyms
Macaranga adenantha Gagnepain
Tanarius indicus (Wight) Kuntze
Trewia hernandifolia Roth

Description
Small or medium trees, to 20 m. Twigs to 10 mm diam., usually terete, glabrous or furfurescent, sometimes glaucous. Stipules triangular, 8(-10) by 4(-6) mm, apex acute, blackish brown, papery, furfuraceous, sometimes recurved, soon caducous. Leaves: petioles 6-18 cm, slender, to 3 mm diam., terete, smooth, glabrous, not kneed; blades ovate, 10-22 by 9-20 cm, papery, base broadly rounded, strongly (1.5)-4 cm peltate, nearly always with a few conspicuous elongate glands on main nerves somewhat distant from petiole insertion, margin entire, apex acute to broadly acuminate, drying grey-brown, grey-green or chocolate brown, occasionally glaucous and glabrous, but usually finely pubescent when young and becoming glabrous except often for a few hairs on main nerves, sometimes remaining velvety below with matted white hairs a few to mostly tufted, secondary nerves palmate, numerous arising from petiole insertion. Staminate inflorescences amongst and behind leaves, overlapping, usually dense, racemes or occasionally panicles, 6-12 cm long, usually 2 occasionally 3 axis orders; peduncle 2-4 cm; axes (strongly) flattened, to 2 mm wide, glabrous or furfuraceous, striate; primary branches 1-3 cm apart, divaricate, to 3 cm long, lowest alternate, subopposite or rarely opposite, sometimes dehisced, leaving scars on peduncle; bracts not seen; branches usually strongly zigzag at the distant flower clusters, these subtended by conspicuous spreading, spoon-like caducous glabrous bracteoles with flattened 1-2 mm stalk and a big conspicuous subapical round 2-3 mm diam. patellar gland, occasionally twin glands; flower clusters often on a 1-2 mm elongate capitulum, this developing as a next order axis, so secondary axes (except lowest few) arising from a cluster of flowers or pedicel scars and the rare 3rd order axes arising from flower clusters. Staminate flowers in clusters of 5-8, 0.5 mm diam., shortly pedicellate; sepals free, glabrous except often with a few subapical granular glands; stamens 5-7, anthers 4-locular. Pistillate inflorescences as staminate but branches not zigzag and only 2 axis orders. Fruits 1(-3) per cluster, round, to 4 mm, thinly woody, black granular-glandular, becoming smooth; pedicel 5-10 mm; calyx persistent; short style thread-like, eccentric caducous, sometimes a few or most fruits deeply bilobed with twin styles attached subapically near point of union. Seeds shallowly coarsely verrucose, with sarcotesta. [from Flora Malesiana]

Ecology
Valleys, riverbanks, primary or secondary forests; up to 2100 m elevation.

Uses
Macaranga Gum, a crimson resin is obtained from Macaranga indica.

Distribution
From Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Bhutan to southern China, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra.

Local names
China: Yin du xue tong.
Kannada (India): Bettadavare, Makaranda mara.
Malayalam (India): Uppila, Vatta, Vattakkanni.
Tamil (India): Vattakanni, Vattathamarei, Vuttuttamarai.