|
Crotalaria shevaroyensis
|
|
|
|
Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
|
|
Citation: Crotalaria shevaroyensis Gamble, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1917: 28. 1917 & Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 298(210). 1918; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 129. 1992; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 95. 1998; Ansari, Crotalaria India 252. 2008.
|
|
Malayalam Name(s):
Kattuthuvara
|
|
Tamil name(s):
|
|
English name(s):
|
|
Description:
Shrubs, up to 3 m high, ferrugineous-villous; stems paniculately branched. Leaves simple, alternate, 4-8 x 2.5-3.5 cm, obovate-oblong, attenuate at base, obtuse-acute and apiculate at apex, chartaceous; lateral veins about 7, conspicuous beneath, sericeo-villous on both surfaces; stipules absent, subsessile. Panicles terminal, much branched, pyramidal, up to 15 cm long; braches 6-8 cm long with 3-5 flowers each. Flowers ca 3 cm across; pedicels 1.0-1.5 cm long, alternate; bracts ovate-cordate, 0.7-1.0 cm long, acuminate, blackish, glabrous and shining above, margins revolute, reflexed, persistent; bracteoles 6-7 mm away from the calyx, ovate-cordate, 6-7 mm long, acuminate, margins revolute, reflexed, blackish, glabrous and shining above. Calyx 1.1-1.2 cm long, tube ca 4 mm long; lobes with revolute margins, upper 2 lanceolate, lower 3 linear. Petals yellow, twice as long as the calyx; vexillum suborbicular or broad-ovate, ca 2.5 x 2.0 cm, obtuse-acute at apex, dorsally pubescent; wing petals oblong, ca 2 x 0.8 cm, slightly falcate; keel petals falcate, ca 2 x 1 cm, beak not twisted, glabrous except the ciliate margins. Staminal sheath ca 8 mm long; free filaments 0.5-1.0 cm long; longer anthers oblong, ca 3.5 mm long; shorter anthers ovoid, ca 1 mm long. Ovary oblong, ca 6 mm long, stipitate, glabrous; style ca 2 cm long, geniculate, densely pubescent on both sides; ovules numerous. Pods oblong-terete, 3.5-4.0 x ca 1.5 cm, attenuate at apex, stalk 1.0-1.5 cm long, glabrous or minutely puberulous; seeds 12-16, ovoid-reniform, ca 3.5 mm long.
|
|
Habit:
Shrub
|
|
Flowering & Fruiting:
September-December
|
|
District(s):
Idukki
|
|
Medicinal:
|
|
Habitat:
Grasslands
|
|
Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
|
|
Aquatic:
No
|
|
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
|
Saprophyte:
No
|
|
Stem parasite:
No
|
|
Root parasite:
No
|
|
Flower colour(s):
Yellow
|
|
Weed:
No
|
|
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
|
Exotic:
No
|
|
Garden:
No
|
|
Edible:
No
|
|
Vegetable:
No
|
|
Endemic to:
Southern Western Ghats
|
|
IUCN status:
|
|
Altitude:
|
|
Localities:
Kumarikulam, Vavalala
|