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Aponogeton appendiculatus
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Family:
APONOGETONACEAE
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Citation: Aponogeton appendiculatus van Bruggen, Blumea 16: 264. 1968; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 733. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 915. 2009.
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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:
Perennial water-plants, 40-150 cm high. Tubers up to 2 cm across, oblong or globose. Leaves all submerged, 30-80 x 2.5 - 4.5 cm, oblong-lanceolate, base narrowly cuneate, margins undulate, apex acute or acuminate, mature leaves purplish; petiole 10-25 cm long. Spikes 3-12 cm long (fruiting spike upto 35 cm long), cylindrical, densely flowered; spathe 2-5 cm long, conical, acuminate, calyptrate, 6-7-sided, angles winged, caducous; peduncle 40-135 cm long, narrowed at base and gradually thickening towards apex, dark brown. Flowers 4-5 mm across, in groups about 4. Tepals 2, white with pink tinge, 2-2.5 x 2-2.5 mm, obovate or suborbicular, base cuneate, apex obtuse, fleshy, persistent. Stamens 5-6; filaments 1-1.5 mm long, widened towards the base, white, persistent; anthers c. 0.5 mm long, ovoid, yellow. Ovaries 2-3, 1-1.5 x 1-1.5 mm, conical; ovules 1 or 2. Fruit 0.8-1.5 x 0.5-1 cm, conical, with scattered blunt spines, base violet, apex beaked. Embryo very unusual, 0.7-1.2 x 0.3-0.6 cm, obovate, tuberous, crowned with a whorl of linear tortuous appendages of 3-5 mm long.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
July-March
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District(s):
Alappuzha, Wayanad, Thrissur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Ponds and ditches
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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Aquatic:
Yes
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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:
Monocotyledonous 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:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
Endangered (EN)
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Vembanad, R. Block, Kanjippadam
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