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Lippia alba
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Family:
VERBENACEAE
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Citation: Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E.Br. ex Britton & P.Wilson, Bot. Porto Rico 6: 141. 1925; Rajendran & Daniel, Indian Verbenaceae 198. 2002.
Lantana alba Mill., Gard. Dict. ed. 8, 8. 1768.
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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:
Erect shrubs to 2 m. Leaves opposite, 4-9 x 2-4 cm, broadly elliptic-oblong, thick-chartaceous; lateral nerves 6-8 pairs, the lowest pair longer and prominent, nerves impressed above, raised below, sparsely hairy above, softly pubescent below, base rounded to acute, margin serrate-crenate, apex acute; petiole to 1 cm. Flowers zygomorphic, 5-merous, subsessile, aggregated in elongate, axillary spikes to 1.5 cm; stalk to 3 cm; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 3.5 mm, imbricate, densely pubescent, shortly acuminate, lower ones broader, persistent. Calyx cupular; lobes 2, lanceolate, concave, decurrent into a circular cup below, hairy without, acute, accrescent. Corolla pinkish-white, 4 x 2 mm across, salver-form; tube 4 mm, thinly pubescent on either side; lobes 5, bilabiate; upper lip 2-lobed, the lower deflexed, to 1.5 mm, obtuse. Stamens 4, attached at the throat, included; filaments pairs 1 and 1.5 mm, longer pair curved; anthers ovate, 0.3 mm. Ovary oblong-globose, 1 mm, 2-locular; ovule 1 per cell, basal; style 1.5 mm; stigma lateral, oblong. Drupe pyriform, 2 mm, enclosing 2, 1-seeded pyrenes.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
Throughout the year
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District(s):
Alappuzha
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Roadsides and wastelands in the plains
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Distribution:
Native of tropical America
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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):
White
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Weed:
Yes
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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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:
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