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Piper betle
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Family:
PIPERACEAE
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Citation: Piper betle L., Sp. Pl. 28. 1753; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1208(845). 1925; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 344. 1989; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 38.1996; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 419. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 607. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 690. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Kodinjali, Vettila, Vettilakkodi
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Betel pepper, Betel, Betel leaf vine
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Description:
A climber up to 20 m tall. Stems strongly swollen at the nodes, papillose when young, soon entirely glabrous. Leaves of fertile branches with a petiole 1-2 cm long, 1.2-1.8 mm thick when dry, glabrous at maturity; lamina 12-20 cm long, 6-11 cm wide, ovate, rounded or shallowly cordate and slightly asymmetrical at the base, rather gradually acuminate at the apex; almost coriaceous, hardly pellucid when dry, bright green, shining and very smooth on the upper side, not scaly, the margin slightly revolute; with 2-3 pairs of arcuate veins from the base and one pair from the midrib 1-3 cm above the base; cross veins not or feebly raised on upper surface in dry leaf. Peduncle 1.2-2 (-2.8) cm long, as long as or slightly longer than petiole of opposed leaf. Spike 3.5-5 cm long, 3-4 mm thick at anthesis, unevenly nodose in fruit; pendulous, apiculate by the ebracteate sterile tip of the axis. Bracts peltate, orbicular to obcordate, broadly stipitate, with a membranous margin. Flowers crowded, dioecious. Stamens 2. Stylules 5-6, sometimes up to 8, about 0.8 mm across. Berries very rarely produced, concrescent into a fleshy spadix.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
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District(s):
Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Thrissur, Malappuram, Wayanad
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Cultivated
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Distribution:
India and Malesia
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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):
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Weed:
No
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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:
Arampa
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