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Capparis diversifolia
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Family:
CAPPARACEAE
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Citation: Capparis diversifolia Wight & Arn., Prodr. 27. 1834; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 175. 1872; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 45(33). 1915; Sundararagh. in B.D. Sharma & N.P. Balakr., Fl. India 2: 267. 1993; R. Sundara. & N.P. Balakr. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 228. 2005.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Erect shrub, ca 2 m high; twigs flexuous, stellate-hairy, early glabrescent; thorns few, straight or slightly curved, 2-2.5 mm long. Leaves dimorphic, linear-oblong or oblong-lanceolate to elliptic-ovate, acute to rounded at base, acute-mucronate at apex, 2.5-9 x 0.3-3.5 cm; lateral nerves 5-7 pairs; petioles 2-6 mm long. Flowers showy, reddish purple to violet, 3.5-4.5 cm across, conferted in 3-8 flowered subumbels; pedicels 6-8 mm long, puberulous but early glabrescent. Sepals subequal, ovate, 7-8 x 3.5-4 cm, minutely puberulous outside, densely tomentose inside. Petals ovate or obovate, subequal, 1.8-2 x 0.6-0.9 cm, glabrous but tomentellous at base. Stamens 40-60, exceeding pistil. Gynophore bent, 5-9 mm long, to 11 mm in fruit, hardly incrassate. Ovary fusiform, ca 6 cm long (including beak), smooth, glabrous, often abortive; placentae 4. Fruits ovoid or ellipsoid, apiculate, 3-3.5 x ca 2 cm, smooth; seeds 8-10, 6.5-7 x ca 6 mm; stalks thin.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
April-December
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District(s):
Thiruvananthapuram
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Semi-evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Red
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
Vulnerable (VU)
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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