''Celtis philippensis'', is an Asian species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Cannabaceae Cannabaceae is a small family of flowering plants, known as the hemp family. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including '' Cannabis'' (hemp), '' Humulus'' (hops) and '' Celtis'' (hackberri ...

. It is a tree which can grow up to 30 meters tall. It ranges from India and Sri Lanka to southern China and Taiwan, the Philippines, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and northern Australia. It grows in tropical and subtropical forests, including moist evergreen forests, monsoon forests, and littoral forests, from sea level up to 1,400 metres elevation. It Australia it is an important food plant for larvae of the common aeroplane (''Phaedyma shepherdi'') and tailed emperor (''Polyura sempronius'') butterflies.

In culture

Known as "මැදිතෙල්ල - medithella" in Sinhala.

References

Sources

* http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2708529 * http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2708413 * http://www.biotik.org/india/species/c/celtphwi/celtphwi_en.html * http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242311733 philippensis Flora of Sri Lanka Flora of India (region) Flora of Indo-China Flora of Malesia Flora of Papuasia Flora of South-Central China Flora of Southeast China Flora of Taiwan Flora of Hainan Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1837 Taxa named by Francisco Manuel Blanco {{Rosales-stub