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Humboldtia decurrens
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Caesalpinioideae)
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Citation: Humboldtia decurrens Bedd. ex Oliver in Hook., Ic. Pl. t. 2368. 1890; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 411(291). 1919; Sanjappa, Blumea 31: 334. 1986 & Legumes Ind. 30. 1992; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 167. 1994; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 115. 1995; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 109. 1997; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 232. 2002.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Kunthani, Malamthodappu, Nyanoli
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Trees, to 15 m high, bark 3-4 mm thick, brown with prominent lenticels, rough; branches dark brown, pubescent when young, glabrous at maturity. Leaves paripinnate alternate; stipules lateral, ovate to narrowly ovate, falcate, acuminate to cuspidate at apex; prominently parallel veined, brown tomentose on both surfaces, appendages reniform with divergent reticulate veins, brown tomentose, adpressed glandular; rachis 15-36 cm long, pulvinate, obcordately or decurrently winged, wings reticulately veined, glabrous; leaflets 8-12, opposite, estipellate; petiolule 3-5 mm long,stout, densely brown tomentose; lamina 15-38 x 4-12 cm, oblong-lanceolate, base obtuse or round, apex long acuminate, margin entire, subcoriaceous, glabrous, sparsely depressed glandular beneath; lateral nerves 10-16 pairs, parallel, ascending, looped at the margin forming prominent intramarginal nerve, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, pink, 17-18 mm long, in pendulous axillary or cauliflorus racemes, tawny villous; pedicels 1-1.2 cm long, villous; bracts broadly ovate, obtuse to acute at apex, villous and glandular without, black and glabrous within, fugacious; bracteoles 2, connate at base, ovate, obtuse, brown villous on both surfaces; calyx tube upto 1.2 cm long, obconical, lined by the disc, villous; lobes 4, oblong, rounded at apex, imbricate; petals 5, pink or white, 2-2.5 x 0.5 cm, obovate or oblanceolate, clawed, obtuse to round at apex, pilose within at base; stamens 5, 3.5-4 cm long, perfect, alternating with 5 minute staminodes; filaments filiform, broad, pilose at base; anthers versatile; ovary half inferior, stipitate, obliquely linear, villous, ovules 3-6; style filiform, glabrous; stigma capitate. Fruit a pod 7-12 x 2.7-4 cm, oblong, brown, veined, rugulose and dark brown tomentose when young, sutures thick; seeds 2-3, thick, flat, glabrous.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
January-June
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District(s):
Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
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):
Pink, White
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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:
Near Threatened (NT)
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Altitude:
150-900
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Localities:
Kallar, Kattalappara, Rockwood, Bonaccord, Kappukadu
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