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Begonia aliciae
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Family:
BEGONIACEAE
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Citation: Begonia aliciae C.E.C. Fisch., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1939: 247. 1939; Santhosh Kumar et al., Rheedea 12: 185. 2002.
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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:
Scapigerous herbs; rhizome short, fleshy with numerous fibrous roots. Leaves radical, 3.5-12 x 2-6 cm, ovate to rotund-ovate, rounded or truncate at base, acute or acuminate at apex, apiculately crenate at margins, upper surface with scattered, short, stout hairs, glabrous below; basal nerves 5, the two lateral nerves next to mid-rib nearly vertical for a short distance and then bending outwards, all the nerves forking and running to the lobulate; petiole 2-5.5 cm long. Inflorescence 10-25 cm long, sometimes bearing a smaller simple leaf, similar to the radical; bracts to 5 mm long, narrowly ensiform, acuminate at apex; bracteoles similar, smaller. Flowers pink, monoecious, male flowers above the female; pedicels to 2.5 cm long. Male flowers: perianth segments 4, subequal, 0.8-1x 0.5-0.6 cm, broadly elliptic or elliptic-obovate, obtuse or acute at apex, 3-7 nerved from base. Stamens 14-17, monadelphous, column to 2.5 mm long, anthers to 1.2 mm long, oblanceolate or truncate or retuse at apex. Female flowers: perianth segments 6, subequal, 0.9-1.1 x 0.3-0.5 cm, oblong or obovate, obtuse, acute or acuminate at apex, 1-5 nerved from the base. Styles 3, rather stout, to 2.5 mm long, glabrous; stigma broad, crenate at margins. Ovary subglobose, to 3.5 mm long, with semi-obovate wings on either sides, united below the ovary and tapering into the pedicel, abruptly apiculate at apex, one face furnished with a keel, decurrent along the united wings, minutely glandular hairy, 2-celled; placenta 2 in each cell. Capsule (immature) with the wings united and acute at the base.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
August-November
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District(s):
Idukki
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen and shola forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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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):
Pink
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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:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
900-1700
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Localities:
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