|
|
Strobilanthes pothigaiensis
|
|
|
|
Family:
ACANTHACEAE
|
|
Citation: Strobilanthes pothigaiensis Gopalan & Chithra, Kew Bull. 63: 499. 2008.
|
|
Malayalam Name(s):
|
|
Tamil name(s):
|
|
English name(s):
|
|
Description:
Shrubs, 1.5 m tall; branches short, nodes very close. Leaves clustered towards tip, opposite, 1-5.7 x 0.4- 2.5 cm, ovate- lanceolate, coriaceous, rugose above, base cuneate to attenuate, entire, margin slightly recurved, acuminate; midrib prominent above; lateral nerves up to 7 pairs, raised beneath, prominent on both surfaces, curved upwards; petioles 2-8 mm long, rounded beneath, flat or minutely sulcate above. Inflorescence spicate, terminal or axillary on leafless nodes; peduncles angular, pubescent or puberulent, sulcate; bracts elliptic- ovate, 6-8 x 2.5-3.5 mm, coriaceous, minutely ciliolate along margin, acute- acuminate; bracteoles 2, narrowly lanceolate, 6-8 x 1-2 mm, coriaceous, concave, minutely ciliolate along margin, subacute. Flowers zygomorphic, bisexual. Calyx tube campanulate, 3-5 mm long; lobes 5 (-6), unequal, 2(-3) short, 3 long, linear-lanceolate, 2-6 mm long, obtuse at apex, scabrous, puberulous within. Corolla maroon, tubular or cylindric - ventricose above ca 1 cm long, white hirsute without, long white hairy (opposite to stamens) and remaining portion glabrescent-glabrous within; lobes broadly ovate, ca 3 x 3 mm, margin undulate, apex apiculate; nerves prominent from base to apex. Stamens 2, adnate in tubular portion and free in campanulate portion of corolla; filaments up to 12 mm long, flat, dilated on either side, long white dense ciliate from base to middle (2/3), glabrous towards apex (2-3 mm length); anthers ovoid, ca 3 x 3 mm, 2-locules, apiculate at apex, dorsifixed. Disc obconical or cupular, ca 1mm long, glabrous. Ovary superior, oblong-obovoid, ca 1.5 mm long, 2-loculed; ovules 2 in each locule; style filiform, ca 13 mm long, white hairy (glabrous at base in buds), dilated elliptically below stigma; stigma simple, linear, ca 2.5 mm long, bent, undulate on one side.
|
|
Habit:
Shrub
|
|
Flowering & Fruiting:
September-
|
|
District(s):
Thiruvananthapuram
|
|
Medicinal:
|
|
Habitat:
Along exposed shola forests bordering grassy or rocky slopes
|
|
Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
|
|
Aquatic:
No
|
|
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
|
Saprophyte:
No
|
|
Stem parasite:
No
|
|
Root parasite:
No
|
|
Flower colour(s):
Red
|
|
Weed:
No
|
|
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
|
Exotic:
No
|
|
Garden:
No
|
|
Edible:
No
|
|
Vegetable:
No
|
|
Endemic to:
Kerala
|
|
IUCN status:
|
|
Altitude:
1500-1700
|
|
Localities:
|
|