2. Wallichia Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 3: 91 (1820).
Taxon Description
Evergreen shrubs. stems clustered or solitary, very short and subterranean, covered with petiole bases and sheaths. Leaf sheaths tomentum, disintegrating into black fibres, flagellum and ocrea absent. Petiole well developed, rusty felted. Leaves spiral or distichous, imparipinnate; Leaflets induplicate, lateral leaflets unicostate, irregularly lanceolate to rhombic, margins praemorse (jaggedly toothed), terminal leaflet several costate. Monoecious. Inflorescence interfoliar, branched to l order; prophyll small, tubular at base; peduncular bracts many, coriaceous. Male inflorescence with slender, dense rachillae; flowers dense, calyx tubular, corolla tubular at base, 3 lobed; stamens (3-) 6 (-l5), anthers basal, latrorse, filaments fused at base and adnate to corolla tube. Female inflorescence with stouter, erect rachillae, flowers globose, subtended by small bract and 3 bracteoles; calyx with 3 imbricating lobes; corolla lobes scarcely exceeding calyx; stigma sessile, small; staminodes 0–3. Fruit 2-seeded, reddish or purplish, ellipsoidal, smooth.
Taxon Statistics
Worldwide 9 species ((Mabberley 2017). One species in Nepal.
1. Wallichia oblongifolia Griff., Calcutta J. Nat Hist. 5: 486 (1844).
Wallichia densiflora Mart.
सक्रातो Sakrato (Nepali)
Shrubs to 1 m. Stems short and subterranean, clustered. Leaf sheath fibrous, with reticulate fibers. Petiole 0.5–1.5 m, rusty-felted. Leaves 1–3 m long, spirally arranged, leaflets 10–15 on each side of rachis, 20–50 X 5–10 cm, oblong, dark green above, silvery grey below, obliquely stepped, steps praemorse, terminal leaflet 15–35 X 10–15 cm, 3–4 costate, 3-lobed. Monoecious. Inflorecence interfoliar. Male inflorescence pendulous, 50–60 cm; rachillae slender, dense, ascendent, up to 100, 12–20 cm. Male flower yellowish white; calyx tubular, c. 5 X 2 mm, truncate; corolla tubular at base, tube c. 5 X 1 mm, 3 lobed, lobes c. 5 X 1 mm, hooded; stamens 6, c. 7 mm, filaments adnate to corolla, anthers c. 5 mm, basal. Female inflorescence 55–60 cm, horizontally spreading, prophyll to c. 2.5 cm, peduncular bracts many, up to 25 X 10 cm, rusty tomentose outside; rachillae erect, stout, up to 13, to 40 cm in fruiting stage. Fruit greenish-brown, ovoid, to 2 X 1.2 cm. Seeds to 11 X 5 mm.
Distribution: Nepal, W Himalaya, E Himalaya, Assam-Burma, S Asia and E Asia.
Altitudinal range: 90–1400 m
Flowering: May Fruiting: June
Ecology: Steep, shady places in forest ravines.