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Leea asiatica
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Family:
LEEACEAE
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Citation: Leea asiatica (L.) Ridsd. in Manilal, Bot. & Hist. Hort. Malab. 189. 1980; Manilal, Fl. Silent Valley 61. 1988; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 107. 1988; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 11,17. 1996; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 114. 1996; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 156. 1997; B.D. Naithani in N.P. Singh et al., Fl. India 5: 330. 2000; W. Arisdason et al. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 765. 2005; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 237. 2009.
Phytolacca asiatica L., Sp. Pl. 474. 1753.
Leea crispa Royen ex L., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 2: 627. 1767; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 665. 1875; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 240 (171). 1918.
Leea aspera Edgw., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 20: 36. 1846; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 240(171). 1918.
Leea herbacea Ham., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 14: 228. 1823; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 240(171). 1918.
Leea pumila Kurz, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 41: 303. 1872; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 606. 1875.
Leea edgeworthii Sant., Rec. Bot. Surv. India 19: 54. 1953.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Nalugu
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Shrubs to small trees; stems branches, rachises, petiolules and peduncles often fluted and crispately winged. Leaves pinnate, alternate, 1 or 2-pinnate, densely soft-villous beneath when young; leaflets 5-7, 10-20 x 4-9 cm, broadly ovate to elliptic or ovate-oblong to elliptic, acute, acuminate to caudate at apex, rounded to cordate at base, sharply serrate at margin, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, glabrous or sparsely hairy above, densely hairy beneath with sparse globose pearl glands; petioles 1-4 cm long; stipule narrowly winged; rachises 4-12 cm long; lateral nerves 8-16 pairs; petiolules 5-15 mm long. Inflorescences 2-12 cm long, glabrous or pubescent; peduncles to 6 mm long; bracts ovate to linear-lanceolate, to 6 mm long, subpersistent; bracteoles lanceolate, 3 mm long; pedicels 1-2 mm long, pubescent. Flowers greenish white in corymbs. Calyx 2 x 3 mm, pubescent with prominent reticulate nervation, 5-lobed; lobes 3-angled. Corolla tube with staminal lobes 3-4 mm long, 5-lobed; lobes subulate, 2.5-3 x 1-1.5 mm. Staminal lobes deeply 2-fid; stamens free; filaments to 2 mm long; anthers oblong, to 1 cm long, medifixed; staminal column 3 mm long. Ovary globose-subglobose, less than 1 mm across, 4-8 loculed; style 1-2 mm long; stigma capitate. Fruits globose-depressed, 12 mm across, purple black; seeds usually 6, 5x 3 mm.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-November
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District(s):
Malappuram, Kannur, Palakkad, Thrissur, Wayanad, Kozhikkode
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Moist deciduous and evergreen forests
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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):
Green, 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:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
-2250
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Localities:
Peechi, Kannoth, Nilikkal, Chandanathode, Vadapuram, Karimpuzha
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