''Ilex umbellulata'' is an evergreen tree species related to holly, generally four to fifteen metres in height. It is found in Southeast Asia. This tree is most often found growing in forests.

Taxonomy

The species was first described from West Bengal, or possibly

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, or possibly Assam, by

Nathaniel Wallich Nathaniel Wolff Wallich FRS FRSE (28 January 1786 – 28 April 1854) was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the Danish East India Company and the British ...

in 1824, who named the species ''Ehretia umbellulata''. Wallich classified the genus in the botanical family Boraginaceae at the time. In 1901 the German Aquifoliaceae specialist Ludwig Eduard Theodor Lösener moved the species to the genus '' Ilex''. Wallich did not properly designate a holotype (or any types) for his taxon, therefore in 1985 a specimen (EICH4329) collected in 1822 (probably near the city of

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...

, Bangladesh, although the label is ambiguous), was selected as the holotype from among the specimens in the East India Company

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

collection housed at Kew Botanical Gardens. The specimen is not completely ideal: it is mounted on the same sheet as the holotype of ''I. godajam''. There are also a number of isotypes with the same collection number housed at Kew.

Description

''Ilex umbellulata'' is a spreading, evergreen tree or shrub, reaching up to fifteen, exceptionally eighteen, metres in height, and with glabrous branchlets. The bark is grey-brown. The glabrous leaves have an ovate, elliptic or oblong shape, with 1-2 cm long petioles, an entire margin, and minute stipules. Flowers are small, pale white and fragrant. The plants flower and fruit in April to September in Bangladesh, but flowers from May to September, fruiting July to November in Yunnan.

Distribution

The distribution includes the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

, Assam, Bangladesh, the eastern Himalayan region of India,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(restricted to Yunnan),

, the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

, Thailand,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, and Vietnam. The tree is only found in

Kaptai National Park Kaptai National Park is a national park in Bangladesh situated in Rangamati District. It was established in 1999 and its area is 5,464.78 hectares(13,498.0 Acres). Prior to the declaration of the national park, it was known as Sitapahar Reserve. ...

and the forest of Khagrachari in Bangladesh. It is a very rare tree in Bangladesh.

Ecology

''Ilex umbellulata'' occurs at altitudes of 500 to 1,700 metres in Yunnan. The species is most often found growing in a habitat of evergreen broadleaf forests or on sparsely-forested slopes in China. It occurs in both

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary woodland A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

in Bangladesh. The fruit is edible and most of the local fruit-eating bird species visit during the fruiting period.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10885498 umbellulata