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Desmodium caudatum
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
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Citation: Desmodium caudatum (Thunb.) DC., Prodr. 2: 337. 1825; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 150. 1992; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 191. 1997.
Hedysarum caudatum Thunb., Fl. Jap. 286. 1784.
Hedysarum laburnifolium Poir. in Lam., Encycl. 4: 422. 1798.
Catenaria caudata (Thunb.) Schindl., Feddes Repert. 20: 275. 1924.
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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:
Much branched erect subshrubs or shrubs, usually 30-100cm high; rootstock woody; stem branched, slender, terete, glabrescent. Leaves 3-foliolate; terminal leaflets 5-8 x 1.5-2.5 cm, lateral leaflets a little smaller than terminal ones, narrowly ovate, acute at the apex, sessile subcoriaceous, glabrescent or sparsely puberulous especially on the midrib; lateral nerves not reaching the margin; stipels scariose, striate, filiform, acuminate at the apex, pilose, 2-5 mm long; petiolules to 1.5 cm long; stipules persistent, scariose, striate, narrowly triangular, cuspidate at the apex, 5-10 mm long, ciliate, sparsely pilose on the back. Inflorescence terminal and axillary, racemose or paniculate, up to 30 cm long; rachides densely pubescent; pedicels 3-4 mm long, densely appressed-pilose; bracts persistent, subulate, about 3 mm long; bracteoles two, near the base of the calyx, about 1 mm long, appressed-pubescent on the back. Calyx narrowly campanulate, 3.5-4.5 mm long, appressed-pilose, upper two lobes united for ¾ or more of their length, the others narrowly triangular, about 2 mm long and up to 1 mm wide at the base. Petals pale greenish-or yellowish-white, distinctly veined; standard elliptic, 6-6.5 mm long and 3.5-4 mm wide, rounded or slightly retuse at the apex, minutely clawed, slightly auriculate; wings conspicuously smaller than the keel-petals, about 5 mm long and 1-1.2 mm wide. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary 7 mm long, stipitate, densely appressed-pilose on the both sutures; style incurved nearly at a right angle in the middle. Pods linear, flat, sessile, 4-7 jointed, both sutures equally undulate; articles narrowly elliptic, equally tapering to both ends, 8-10 x 4-5 mm, densely covered with short uncinate brown hairs; seeds transversely narrowly elliptic, about 3 x 8.5-9.5 mm.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
September-January
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District(s):
Malappuram
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Near water course
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia and China
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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):
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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:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Kanjirakadavu, Vaniampuzha
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