| |
Capparis tenera
|
| |
|
| |
Family:
CAPPARACEAE
|
| |
Citation: Capparis tenera Dalz., Hook.'s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 2: 41. 1850; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 179. 1872; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 46(34). 1915; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 61. 1985; Sundararagh. in B.D. Sharma & N.P. Balakr., Fl. India 2: 297. 1993; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 40. 1996; R. Sundara. & N.P. Balakr. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 235. 2005; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 115. 2009.
Capparis tenera Dalz. var. zeylanica Hook.f. & Thoms. in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 179. 1872.
|
| |
Malayalam Name(s):
|
| |
Tamil name(s):
|
| |
English name(s):
|
| |
Description:
Scandent shrubs, to 4 m high, with spreading branches, glabrous; thorns strongly recurved, sharp, 2-4 mm long. Leaves alternate, distichous, ovate-elliptic or obovate-oblong, rounded or subcordate at base, acute to abruptly caudate-acuminate with 8-10 mm long blunt tip at apex, 4-7 x 2.5-4 cm, membranous, subcoriaceous, glaucous; lateral nerves 4 or 5 pairs with obscure reticulations; petioles 2.5-6 mm long. Flowers in supra-axillary serial rows of 1-4 flowers, 8-12 mm across, white, fragrant; pedicels filiform, 1.5-5 mm long, glabrous, not incrassate in fruit. Sepals subequal, deflexed, green, purple-tinged; outer pair ovate, boat shaped, acute, largely covering inner pair, 4.5-6 x 2.2-2.5 mm, ciliate at margin, pubescent inside; inner pair elliptic-lanceolate, puberulous towards base. Petals oblong or ovate-oblong, acute, 5.5-7 x 1.8-2 mm, white with a red basal blotch on upper pair, tomentose. Stamens 8-15; filaments 14-20 mm long, white; anthers bluish. Gynophore filiform, 14-20 mm long, glabrous, white, not incrassate. Ovary pyriform, 1.5-1.8 x 5-8 mm, purple-tinged; stigma knob like. Fruits pisiform or subglobose, sometimes pointed at apex, 8-12 mm long; pericarp thin, deep orange or red when ripe; seeds 3 or 4, ca 5 x 4 mm.
|
| |
Habit:
Shrub
|
| |
Flowering & Fruiting:
February-June
|
| |
District(s):
Kannur, Thrissur, Wayanad
|
| |
Medicinal:
|
| |
Habitat:
Evergreen forests
|
| |
Distribution:
India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and extending to Tropical Africa
|
| |
Aquatic:
No
|
| |
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
| |
Saprophyte:
No
|
| |
Stem parasite:
No
|
| |
Root parasite:
No
|
| |
Flower colour(s):
White
|
| |
Weed:
No
|
| |
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
| |
Exotic:
No
|
| |
Garden:
No
|
| |
Edible:
No
|
| |
Vegetable:
No
|
| |
Endemic to:
|
| |
IUCN status:
|
| |
Altitude:
|
| |
Localities:
Vazhani, Taliparamba
|