Dear friends,
For all practical purposes, the scale may be considered more/less equal for the following 2 photos.


Ixora arborea my visualization: a medium to big tree, as much as 10-15 m

wild at Karnala Bird Sanctuary, Maharashtra
(clearly marked by placard)


Ixora pavetta - my visualization: a small tree - about 5-7 m

planted at Thane
(reference: <i>Further Flowers of Sahyadri</i> by Shrikant Ingalhalikar)


... click on individual photos for more views


Besides NPGS/GRIN , there are many other references which state that
Ixora arborea and Ixora parviflora are synonyms of Ixora pavetta


I am not able to understand this synonymity.

Any reasoning?


Regards,
Dinesh.  

--Last edited by dinesh valke on 2008-02-10 22:47:22 --

Indeed, the difference in two pictures is striking.

I quote the descrïption of I. parviflora from The Handbook of Indian Flora by Heber Drury:
Syn. I. arborea, I. pavetta ....
Tree. leaves from linear-oblong to cuneate-obovate                          ,  bluntish or short-pointed...,
corymbs or panicles terminal, trichotomous,  sessile or peduncled, often with leafy bracts subtending
the primary branches. calyx with 4 small teeth: lobes of the
corolla oblong-linear, obtuse, reflexed, forming an oval head during aestivation: style exserted: divisions of the stigma oblong, erect:
berry somewhat didymous : flowers very small, numerous, white or pink.
(The emphasis in bold is mine)
So, flowers are very small, and the petals are supposed to be reflexed (turned back) forming an oval head. I can see this happening in your picture of Ixora arborea. Also, the flowers in that pictures will normally be called very small.
The panicles are also supposed to be divided into 3 parts (trichotomous). I don't know what exactly it means, but the bunches seem to be in groups of three. The berries are somewhat supposed to be in pairs. This again seem to be happening from your pictures of Ixora arborea.
These points do not agree at all with the second picture.
So, I think (I. arborea, I. parviflora) = I. pavetta and your first picture is of that species.
The second one must be some other Ixora.

By the way, the flowers in your second picture look exactly like Ixora finlaysoniana which comes from Thailand and has fragrant flowers:
http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/IXORA_finlaysoniana.htm
And this similarity is to the level that the style which protrudes out of the flower is bifurcated into two, and the two parts are reflexed back. This is supposed to be a small tree.

Thanks very much, Tabish.

I was sure that there is something very differently shown in FFOS for I. pavetta, whose flowers' tube length appears as long as that of I. coccinea or I. javanica.

The contradiction occurs with the knowledge that I. parviflora is made synonym of I. pavetta ... the ephithet parviflora suggests small flowers, (small in size, or smaller than other regular close species).

As you rightly pointed, this could be I. finlaysoniana, a small tree (reaches about 3 m) ... but will keep a check on white-flowered Ixora that reaches about 5-6 m.

Thanks once again, Tabish.

Tabish, about this Ixora finlaysoniana ... is it native to India ?

I ask this because the trees (albeit small) that I find in Thane, are in old parts of the city ... where these trees must have been living since many years ... I feel there must be some other species of Ixora which is native.

I remember having seen such tree on the Konkan coast as far as Mangalore, my native place.

Ixora finlaysoniana is native to Thailand. However it can still be there since old times. Gulmohar, for example, is not native to India.
But we should not jump to conclusion here. One thing would be to check if the flowers are fragrant. Otherwise all these Ixoras are so similar - they boggle my mind.

OK. I will check whether they are fragrant ... (you know I will be carrying another pair of nostrils) !!!!

Dinesh, I am having a strong feeling that your second species is Ixora thwaitesii
IndFlora indicates that this species grows in India. I don't know if it is native.
However, I could not find many images online.
gardening.eu says:
"The Ixora thwaitesii Hook. f. develops in an erect manner and, as the years go by, becomes a tree... The Ixora thwaitesii Hook. f. is medium in size and 15 m in height"
http://www.gardening.eu/arc/plants/Masts/Ixora-thwaitesii-Hook.-f/36251/stamp_a.asp
I also found it at a curious page:
http://www.sriaurobindosociety.org.in/activity/flr04.htm

See if you can find out something more about it.

I could find no more on I. thwaitesii beyond the links you mentioned. Will keep a check on it.

Dinesh,
I have few photos which looks identical to your first photo. I thought it is Ixora brachiata.  Just check this FOI link..

http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Gorbale.jpg

Prashant Awale..

Unless the Pravin Kawale's picture is deceptive, the leaves look nearly stalkless, whereas Dinesh's plant's leaves look like having a reasonable stalk. Also Dinesh's flowers look distinctly smaller in comparison to the leaves, than those of I. brachiata.
See this picture...
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2591724710101808144wqcOPB  

--Last edited by tabish on 2008-05-19 17:20:16 --

I would like to belive, (and I do think   ) that I. pavetta, I. arborea and I. parviflora are not synonyms.

In which case, going by epithets, I will start considering the top photo among the two to  be parviflora and the bottom as pavetta ... alas, not much literature found asserting the differences among the three species ... therefore I am yet not strong about the reasoning.

Prashant, I did think of brachiata at some point of time ... but had given up on it having sighted some difference(s).

I found this Ixora today




(Click on the picture to see another one for estimating flowers size)

And these flowers were fragrant. The tree was at least 5 m tall, wasn't in a good condition. Looked like it could be easily taller if doing well. I believe there would not be many white Ixora with fragrant flowers. We should be able to pin it down. I am not able to distinguish it from Dinesh's 2nd picture.

By the way, according to Bor and Raizada (Some Beautiful Indian Climbers & Shrubs), I. parviflora (I. arborea) is supposed to have flowers which are fragrant. Dinesh, please carry an additional pair of nostrils handy next time you go to see this one.

Tabish, I had later checked on these ixora (2nd) ... they have a very nice fragrance.

... size-wise, matching without doubt ... the leaves seem to be not as thick and leathery ... perhaps due to its mal-nutritioned condition !!!  

--Last edited by dinesh valke on 2008-05-19 21:58:01 --

I am sorry, I have to increase the confusion here.

All this could be resolved if
1. The first picture is I. brachiata (as Prashant says)
2. I. pavetta = I. parviflora = I. arborea = the 2nd picture.
3. Placard at Karnala Bird Sanctuary is wrong.

Till now I hadn't come across the exact size of the flowers. Bor & Raizada say, (for I. praviflora), "Corolla tube short, glaborous, 7.5-10 mm long, 4-lobed."
Now, if you click on the third picture (mine), and see the alternate picture, my finger is about 15 mm across. The size of the flowers in the 2nd and 3rd picture agrees with the descrïption above, and they are fragrant too. The size above cannot fit with the flowers in the first picture.

I desperately need inputs from you guys.

OK.
Will continue to get clarifications.

And yes, the placard could be wrong.

Just to fill in the gaps: Sayhadri Database describes Ixora brachiata as:
"Corolla tube 5-6 mm long, narrow, palered ; lobes ca. 2 mm long, oblong, deflexed, white... peduncle 10-15 cm long, reddish, compressed, pubescent"

OK.
I am considering the first photo to be I. brachiata ... will change the notes in my Flickr space.

Many thanks to Prashant and Tabish.

Dinesh, things look better now, I think. Although it is a bit unsettling to realize one's wrong identification, it is better to change with the new knowledge. The apparently wrong signboard and the lack of mention of exact size of flowers in the descrïption is what led to the confusion. Somehow I did not think of checking up Bor & Raizada before.
By the way, ID signboards in India are notorious for sometimes being gloriously wrong. We have come across many.