''Bhesa nitidissima'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the Centroplacaceae family. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Description

A tree with an average height of 20-30 meters (65-98 feet) but can reach as high as 50 meters (164 feet). Bark is usually dark brown and deeply cracked on older specimens. The unique feature of the Bhesa genus within the Centroplacaceae family is its geniculate petioles; which essentially means that the leaf bends sharply away from the stalk. The petiole usually contains three

vascular bundles A vascular bundle is a part of the transport system in vascular plants. The transport itself happens in the stem, which exists in two forms: xylem and phloem. Both these tissues are present in a vascular bundle, which in addition will includ ...

. Seed germination is

epigeal Epigeal, epigean, epigeic and epigeous are biological terms describing an organism's activity above the soil surface. In botany, a seed is described as showing epigeal germination when the cotyledons of the germinating seed expand, throw off the ...

. Produces 3-4mm wide, greenish to white

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

flowers with 5 petals. The flowers produce greenish brown, oblong seeds encased in a thick gelatinous

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

inside capsules up to 2.2cm long.

Ecology

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

. Found mostly in low elevation wet zone forests, but have a recorded range of up to 1600 meters (5249 feet). The tree flowers September through October and produces fruit November through December. Although listed as critically endangered in 1998, a 2017 handbook of Sri Lankan flora suggests the tree is now quite common.

Uses

The

arils An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

of ''Bhesa'' are a known human food source. The tree is occasionally used for timber. Extracts from this genus are used in traditional medicine, to cure vomiting and diarrhea.

References

Flora of Sri Lanka nitidissima Critically endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Malpighiales-stub