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Crotalaria acicularis
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
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Citation: Crotalaria acicularis Ham. ex Benth. in Hook.'s London J. Bot. 2: 476. 1843; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 68. 1876; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 292(206). 1918; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 149. 1990; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 115. 1992; Ansari, Crotalaria India 150. 2008.
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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:
Diffuse or procumbent herbs, to 30 cm long; stems much branched, terete, slender, pilose. Leaves simple, 1.0-2.5 x 0.7-1.7 cm, ovate-oblong or orbicular-oblong, obtuse, slightly oblique or rarely subcordate at base, obtuse or rounded and mucronulate at apex, paler beneath, sparingly pilose above, moderately pilose beneath, margins ciliate, lateral nerves 2-3 pairs, obscure; petioles upto 1 mm long, pilose; stipules lanceolate, 2-5 mm long, acuminate at apex, reflexed. Racemes elongated, lax or subdense, leaf- opposed or terminal; peduncles 2-8 cm long, pubescent; 6-12 flowered. Flowers 4-6 x 4-5 mm, crowded, sometimes forming globose heads; pedicels 2-3 mm long, filiform, pilose; bracts cordate-lanceolate, 3.0-6.5 x 0.5-1.5 mm, acuminate at apex, pilose; reflexed; bracteoles 2, linear, 2.0-4.5 mm long, pilose, at the base of calyx. Calyx 5-lobed, densely pilose with hairs 2- 3 mm long, deeply 2-lipped, lobes 3-7 mm long, divided nearly to the base, upper lip 2-lobed, lobes lanceolate, acuminate at apex, lower lip 3-lobed, lobes linear. Petals yellow, intruded; standard rhomboid-orbicular, 2.5-4.0 x 1.5-3.0 mm, glabrous, with very short oblique claw and purplish veins which are bifurcating towards the margin; wing petals oblong, 2.5-4.5 x 1-2 mm, with short and curved claw; keel petal 2.5-4.5 x 2-3 mm with long twisted beak. Stamens with longer anthers oblong, ca 1 mm long and shorter anthers ovoid, ca 0.2 mm long. Ovary sessile or subsessile, oblong, 2.0-3.5 mm long, glabrous; style 2-3 mm long; stigma globose; ovules many. Pods sessile, oblong, 5-10 x 3-4 mm, glabrous, brown or blackish; seeds 8- 16, reniform, unequal sided, ca 1 mm long, elongated, brown, polished.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
October-December
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District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Dry forests
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia
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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):
Yellow
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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:
-1000
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Localities:
Ayalur slopes
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