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Guaiacum officinale
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Family:
ZYGOPHYLLACEAE
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Citation: Guaiacum officinale L., Sp. Pl. 381. 1753; E. Vajr. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 521. 2005.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Commoner Lignum Vitae, Guaiac Tree, Guaiac Wood, Guaiacum, Guayacan, Lignum Vitae
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Description:
A small tree, 6-10 m tall. Branches knotted at the nodes, older rugose, with deeply furrowed bark, young ones minutely pubescent. Leaves abruptly paripinnate, with 2-3 pairs of sessile, 1.5-4.5 cm long, 1.0-2.5 cm broad, elliptic-rotund or obovate, obtuse leaflets, uppermost pair largest, leaflets of lowest pair unequal. Flowers showy, c. 2.5 cm across, bluish purple, fading to white; pedicel 1.5- 2 cm long; disc annular, fleshy, with nectiferous glands. Sepals 5,2 outer very broadly ovate, 3 inner broadly oblong, hairy, purplish-green. Petals 5, shortly clawed, 12-13 mm long, 6-7 mm broad, obovate, mucronate, hairy, bluish-purple. Stamens 10, free, equal, filaments 6-7 mm long, bluish-purple. Ovary bicarpellate, syncarpous, stipitate, 2-loculed, laterally compressed, clavate with 2 lateral ridges and 2 central furrows; style twisted. Capsule compressed, winged, orange-yellow, somewhat retuse, mucronate, 1-seeded by abortion. Seeds pendulous, perisperm red, testa black.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
February-July
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District(s):
Thiruvananthapuram
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Grown as ornamental tree
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Distribution:
Native of West Indies
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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):
Blue, Purple, Violet, White
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
Yes
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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:
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