- Family : ANNONACEAE
(Custard Apple Family)
- Family (Hindi name) : SITAPHAL FAMILY (सीताफल फैमिली)
- Family (as per The APG System IV) : Annonaceae
- Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Miliusa tirunelvelica Murugan, Manickam, Sundaresan & Jothi
- Common name : Clarinda bisect star, Tirunelveli half star flowered nutmeg
- Vernacular name :
- Habit : Tree
- Habitat : Tropical evergreen forests
- Key identification features : Evergreen small tree, 2–4 meters tall; Bark black, glabrous, wrinkled when dry; Branchlets terete, brown pilose; Internodes 5–10 mm long; Leaves simple, alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, 4–9 × 1–2.5 cm, membranous, glabrous except for the midrib, base widely cuneate, margin entire, ciliate, apex caudate, petioles 2-3mm long, brown pilose; Flowers axillary, solitary, 1–1.5 cm in diameter, bisexual, actinomorphic; Pedicel 1.5–4 cm long, slender, sparsely pilose; Bracts 2 or 3, ovate, ca. 0.5 mm long, proximal above the base; Sepals 3, elliptic to lanceolate, ca. 1.5 × 1 mm, sparsely pubescent, valvate, reflexed; Petals 6 (3+3), in two whorls, valvate, outer petals 3, sepaloid, lanceolate, as long as sepals, sparsely pubescent, alternate to sepals, reflexed, inner petals 3, alternate to outer petals, pink with white tinge, elliptic, ca. 1.5 × 0.8 cm, connivent, sparsely pubescent (less so within), base cuneate, apex widely acute; Stamens 30-40, 6-seriate, about 1.5mm long, connective flat, not concealing anthers, hemispherical at apex, anthers ovate, about 1mm long, 2-celled; Carpels about 20, free, oblong, rarely falcate, 1–1.5 mm long, pubescent at base, ovules 2, collateral, stigma terminal, obconic, about 1mm long; Fruit monocarps 7–21, oblong, 1–1.5 × 0.8–1 cm, glabrous, apex obtuse, pink, stipe 10-20mm long, terete, glabrous.
- Flower, Fruit : June-April
- Distribution :
- Kerala : Thiruvananthapuram district, Kollam district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district
- Tamil Nadu : Tirunelveli district,Abasamudram,Kothaya Hiills,TNR, Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), Kanyakumari district
- Native : India
- Exotic/Native : Native
- World Distribution : India
- Conservation Status : Endangered (EN)
- Literature :
- Narasimhan, D. & Irwin, Sheeba. (2021). Flowering Plants of Tamil Nadu: A Compendium.
- Murugan, C. & Manickam, V.S. & Velusamy, Sundaresan & Jothi, Jeya. (2004). Miliusa tirunelvelica, a new species of Annonaceae from the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. Novon A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature. 14. 102-104.
- MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN HERBARIUM NO 7020953 - https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/4120548307
- Read more :
- Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Miliusa tirunelvelica
- Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Miliusa tirunelvelica. Downloaded on 4 October 2026.
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