|
|
| |
Merremia hirta
|
| |
|
| |
Family:
CONVOLVULACEAE
|
| |
Citation: Merremia hirta (L.) Merr., Philipp. J. Sci. 7: 244. 1912; Biju & Philip Mathew, Journ. Econ. Tax. Bot. 18: 181. 1994.
Convolvulus hirtus L., Sp. Pl. 159. 1753.
Convolvulus reptans L., Sp. Pl. 158. 1753.
Convolvulus caespitosa Roxb., Fl. Ind. 2: 22. 1824.
Ipomoea linifolia Blume, Bijdr. 721. 1826; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 5. 1883.
Merremia caespitosa (Roxb.) Hall. f. in Engl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 16: 552. 1893.
|
| |
Malayalam Name(s):
|
| |
Tamil name(s):
|
| |
English name(s):
|
| |
Description:
Annual herbs; stem prostrate or twining, slender, terete, sparsely patently hirsute or glabrous, prostrate ones rooting at the nodes or sometime at the internodes; latex milky white. Leaves alternate, simple, highly variable, 0.5-3 x 0.4-1.8 cm, oblong-lanceolate or oblong, ovate or ovate-oblong, linear, linear oblong or orbicular to subquadrate apically obtuse to slightly emarginated and mucronulate, basally rounded, truncate, more or less cordate or nearly hastate, with few hairs near the base along with the margins, entire, glabrous on both sides; lateral nerves 4-5 pairs; petiole 0.4-1.8 cm long, terete, shortly pilose. Flowers axillary, solitary to few flowered cymes, peduncles up to 5 mm long, glabrous or shortly pilose near the base; bract small, ovate, 1 x 1 mm long, apically acute, glabrous, dilated at apex. Sepals subequal, outermost pair small, elliptic, 2.5-2.8 x 2 mm, acuminate or obtuse, glabrous on both side, mottled inside; inner three large, elliptic-oblong, 3.5 x 2-2.5 mm, acute or slightly acuminate, glabrous. Corolla 1-1.5 cm long, pale yellow, companulate to broadly; funnel shaped, tube shallowly five lobed, glabrous. Stamens inserted; anther up to 1 mm long, yellowish white, spirally twisted after dehiscens, filaments unequal, three long, up to 5 mm long, two short, up to 3.5 mm long, attached 1 mm above the corolla base, dilated and hairy at the base. Ovary conical, glabrous, 0.8-1 x 0.6-0.8 mm; style single, up to 4 mm long, glabrous, dilated at base; stigma bi-globose, white, papillate. Nectary disc annular, -1 mm long, slightly lobed. Fruits capsular, globular to broad-ovoid, 7 x 7 mm, with a thin papery wall, smooth, glabrous, crowned with a persistent style base, fruiting sepal inflexed above, 4-valved; seeds 4, rarely 3 or less, orbicular, 2.3-2.5 x 2.4-2.8 mm, brownish, black, glabrous.
|
| |
Habit:
Climber
|
| |
Flowering & Fruiting:
August-December
|
| |
District(s):
Malappuram
|
| |
Medicinal:
|
| |
Habitat:
Grasslands
|
| |
Distribution:
Indo-Malesia to Australia
|
| |
Aquatic:
No
|
| |
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
| |
Saprophyte:
No
|
| |
Stem parasite:
No
|
| |
Root parasite:
No
|
| |
Flower colour(s):
Creamy, Yellow
|
| |
Weed:
No
|
| |
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
| |
Exotic:
No
|
| |
Garden:
No
|
| |
Edible:
No
|
| |
Vegetable:
No
|
| |
Endemic to:
|
| |
IUCN status:
|
| |
Altitude:
|
| |
Localities:
Thenhipalam, Panambara
|
|