|
Lawsonia inermis
|
|
|
|
Family:
LYTHRACEAE
|
|
Citation: Lawsonia inermis L., Sp. Pl. 349. 1753; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 514(363). 1919; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 115. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 190. 1984; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 195. 1988; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 263. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 206. 1990; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 133. 1997; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 196. 1996; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 279. 1997; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 229. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 300. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 383. 2009.
Lawsonia alba Lam., Encycl. 3: 106. 1789; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 573. 1879.
|
|
Malayalam Name(s):
Mailanchi, Mylanchi, Pontalasi
|
|
Tamil name(s):
Henna
|
|
English name(s):
Henna plant, Camphire, Egyptian privet, Cypress shrub, Samphire
|
|
Description:
Woody shrubs; bark ashy grey or brown, smooth, branchlets ending in spines. Leaves 2.5-4.5 x 1-2 cm, elliptic or oblong to oblanceolate, base attenuate, apex acute or rounded, subsessile. Flowers in terminal cymose panicles; pedicels 2-4 mm long. Flowers sweet-scented, creamy white, 4-merous. Calyx tube c. 2 mm long, cupular; lobes 4, 2-3 mm long. Petals 4, 3-4 mm long, orbicular or obovate. Stamens 8; filaments 4-5 mm long, inflexed in bud. Ovary globose, 4-celled. Fruit purplish green, 4-6 x 5-7 mm, globose, dehiscing irregularly. Seeds c. 2.5 mm long.
|
|
Habit:
Shrub
|
|
Flowering & Fruiting:
December-May
|
|
District(s):
All Districts
|
|
Medicinal:
Yes
|
|
Habitat:
Grown as hedge plant
|
|
Distribution:
Central Asia and India
|
|
Aquatic:
No
|
|
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
|
Saprophyte:
No
|
|
Stem parasite:
No
|
|
Root parasite:
No
|
|
Flower colour(s):
White
|
|
Weed:
No
|
|
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
|
Exotic:
Yes
|
|
Garden:
Yes
|
|
Edible:
No
|
|
Vegetable:
No
|
|
Endemic to:
|
|
IUCN status:
|
|
Altitude:
|
|
Localities:
Muhamma, Karimpuzha
|