Sapindus emarginatus

Trees, to 10 m high, bark dark-brown, rough; branchlets tomentose. Leaves paripinnate, alternate, exstipulate; rachis 25-100 mm, stout, tomentose, swollen at base; leaflets 4 or 6, opposite or subopposite; petiolule 2-3 mm, stout, tomentose; lamina 3-15 x 1.5-5.5 cm, oblong-obovate, oblanceolate or oblong, base cuneate or obtuse, apex obtuse, round and emarginate, margin entire, glabrescent above, softly tomentose beneath and midrib above, coriaceous; lateral nerves 4-12 pairs, pinnate, prominent, ascending, secondary laterals prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers polygamous, greenish-white, in terminal and axillary panicles; branches pubescent; sepals 5, 2-seriate, 3-4 mm, ovate-orbicular, unequal, ciliate, imbricate; petals 5, obovate, 2.5 mm, equal, clawed, glabrous on the inner surface except for 1-2 tufts of white hairs above the claw; disc annular, 5-lobed, strigose; stamens 8, inserted within the disc; filaments unequal, pilose, free; anthers oblong; ovary superior, trigonus, 3-celled, ovule 1 in each cell; style terminal; stigma 3-lobed. Fruit a drupe of 3 indehiscent cocci, combined about half way up and then separating with saponaceous fibrous pericarp; smooth and slightly pubescent when young, later glabrous and wrinkled; seeds black, globose, smooth.

Habit: Large tree

Karnataka: Belgaum, Chikmagalur, N. Kanara, Shimoga, S. Kanara Kerala: Idukki, Malapuram, Palakkad