Records of the Palni Hills Rudraksha Tree Elaeocarpus blascoi (Oxalidales Elaeocarpaceae) in Palni Hills, Tamil Nadu, India

Elaeocarpus blascoi is an endemic tree species reported only from the Palni Hills in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu. It was described from one tree in 1972, and was thought to be extinct till 1999. We had germinated an unidentified plant species in 1990, and this was later identified in 2001 as E. blascoi upon discovery of a mature tree in Vattakanal shola. We describe here the discovery of the mature tree and two of our plantings that have survived over the past 20 years. Our discovery and plantings have been written about in other publications but with partial information. In this note we list out all our experience with this species to provide clarity.