Mallotus tetracoccus (Roxb.) Kurz, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 42: 245 (1873)

Synonyms
Mallotus albus var. occidentalis Hook.f.
Mallotus ferrugineus (Roxb.) Müll.Arg.
Rottlera ferruginea Roxb.
Rottlera tetracocca Roxb.

Description
Trees 5-15 m tall. Branchlets brownish stellate-tomentose. Stipules ovate-triangular, 1.5-3 mm, pubescent; petiole 6-15 cm, tomentose; leaf blade triangular-ovate or ovate, sometimes 1- or 2-lobate, 10-25 × 9-20 cm, leathery, abaxially brownish tomentose, adaxially glabrous, base obtuse or truncate, sometimes slightly peltate, with 2-4 basal glands, margin repand or entire, apex acute or acuminate; basal veins 3, lateral veins 4-6 pairs. Male inflorescences terminal, branched, 12-20 cm, tomentose; peduncle stout; bracts triangular, 1-1.5 mm. Male flowers 3-9-fascicled; pedicel ca. 4 mm; calyx lobes 3 or 4, oblong, 2.5-3 mm; stamens 60-80. Female inflorescences paniculate, 9-14 cm, tomentose; bracts lanceolate, 3-5 mm. Female flowers: sepals 4 or 5, unequal, ovate, 3-4 mm; ovary tomentose, often 4-loculed; style often 4, ca. 3 mm, plumose. Fruiting pedicel ca. 5 mm; capsule depressed globose, ca. 1 cm in diam., gray tomentose and densely shortly softly spiny, spines stellate-pubescent. Seeds subovoid, ca. 6 mm, verruculose.

Ecology
Pioneer species found in disturbed evergreen forest, sometimes mixed with deciduous elements, along roadsides, in thickets in cultivated areas, garden boundaries and secondary forest; bedrock granite. Altitude: sea level up to 1600 m.

Distribution
Sri Lanka, India, Buthan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, China (Yunnan). Probably also present in Myanmar.

Uses

Local Names