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Aerva sanguinolenta
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Family:
AMARANTHACEAE
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Citation: Aerva sanguinolenta (L.) Blume, Bijdr. 547. 1826; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 244. 1982; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 337. 1989; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 15. 1996; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 368. 1996.
Achyranthes sanguinolenta L., Sp. Pl. (ed. 2) 294. 1762.
Aerva scandens (Roxb.) Wall. ex Moq. in DC., Prodr. 13:302. 1849; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1178(825). 1925.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Vallicherula
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Perennial herb, stem and branches terete, striate, densely tomentose or canescent with whitish or yellowish, appressed or patent hairs. Leaves and branches mostly alternate, the lower not rarely and all occasionally opposite; leaves broadly to narrowly ellipitic or elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic-ovate, cuneate to attenuate at the base, acute to acuminate at the apex, densely whitish-canescent on both surfaces (rarely green and only thinly hairy), those of the main stem below the inflorescence c. 1.5-18 x 0.8-6 cm, petiole up to 2 cm long; branch and inflorescence leaves gradually reducing. Spikes sessile (or pedunculate by reduction of branches), forming a lax raceme or terminal panicle, the lower axillary but the upper without subtending leaves, cylindrical (conical when young), silky, white to pale pink or pale brown. Bracts 1-1.5 mm, deltoid-ovate, membranous with an excurrent yellowish midrib, thinly pilose, persistent; bracteoles similar to slightly smaller, also persistent. Flowers hermaphrodite or hermaphrodite and female. Outer 2 tepals hyaline, elliptic-oblong, tapering above with a distinct mucro formed by the excurrent midrib, 1.75-2.25 mm without the mucro; inner slightly shorter and narrower, acute, hyaline with a narrow central green vitta along the midrib, the vitta bordered by two fine lateral nerves and extending for about two-thirds of the length of each tepal; all tepals densely lanate dorsally. Stamens delicate at anthesis attaining about half the length of the style. Style and two short divergent stigmas subequalling the ovary in length at anthesis. Capsule c. 1 mm. rotund, compressed. Seed 0.8-1 mm, reniform, black, shining and the testa shallowly but distinctly reticulate.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
September-May
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District(s):
Kottayam, Kozhikkode, Thrissur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Moist deciduous forests
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia, Tropical Africa
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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:
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:
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Localities:
Peechi
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