Quick Facts
common name :
Telakiriya, Tilai
Scientific Name :
Excoecaria agallocha
Kingdom :
Plantae}
Clade :
Tracheophytes Angiosperms Eudicots Rosids
Order :
Malpighiales
Family :
Euphorbiaceae
Genus :
Excoecaria
Species :
E. agallocha
Conservation Status :
3
Type of Mangrove :
True mangrove
Type of Roots :
Generally without any aerial growth, but very often superficial spreading horizontal roots are exposed due to water erosion during tidal flashing.
General Characters
Shrub or tree, Height up to 20m Dioecious.
Other Characters
Woody tree, perennial, partially deciduous, much branched, very dense with dark leaves and spreading branches Distribution : all around SL in lagoon fringing and riverine mangals. Bark: Grey, fissured with poisonous milky latex Bark lenticelate, lenticel prominent on young twigs and also present in mature trunk base; mature trunk base with gall like tumerous growth.
Features of Flower
Male Inflorescence : catkin, upto 7cm long, female inflorescense: mixed cyme, Petals: green and white, Calyx: yellowish green Size: diameter 0.2-0.3cm Seed type: normal seed.
Features of Fruits
Size: 3 lobed, schizocarp (fruit like combined 3 balls), diameter 0.6cm Colour: green Surface: leathery
Leaf Arrangment
Simple, alternate, spirally arranged, somewhat cluster to the end of the erect shoot Blade: ovate-elliptic Apex: sub-acuminate Size: 12cm long
Distribution
All around Sri Lanka in Lagoon fringing and riverine mangals
Range
India ,Indo-Malesia to Australia and Pacific islands
Type of Roots
Generally without any aerial growth, but very often superficial spreading horizontal roots are exposed due to water erosion during tidal flashing.
IUCN Red List Status
