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Cullen corylifolium
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
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Citation: Cullen corylifolium (L.) Medik., Vorles. Churpf. Phys. Ges. 2: 381. 1787; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 277. 2009.
Psoralea corylifolia L., Sp. Pl. 764. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 103. 1876; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 314(222). 1918; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 135. 1989.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Karkokil, Karpokkari, Karkoalari
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Babchi, Psoralia, Malay-tea
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Description:
An erect, annual herb or undershrub, usually 0.6-1.2 m tall; stems and branches angular-ribbed, studded with conspicuous reddish glands and with a few appressed and spreading white hairs. Leaves alternate, simple, (or sometimes trifoliate), 2.5-7.5 cm long and 2-5 cm wide, broadly elliptic, gland-dotted, apex obtuse to subacute, base subcordate to cuneate, margins serrate-dentate; main nerves 5, arising from the base. Petioles 6-25 mm long, hairy and gland-dotted; stipules lanceolate, persistent. Flowers 0.5-0.6 cm long, pale lilac or yellow, borne in dense, 10-30 flowered, axillary racemes; peduncles 2.5-5.5 cm long, hairy; pedicels very short; calyx 3-4 mm long, hairy outside, the upper teeth linear-lanceolate, the lower ovate, twice as long as the upper; corolla nearly twice as long as the calyx, standard orbicular, 6 mm long, clawed, glabrous. Fruit (pod) small, to 5 mm long and 3 mm wide, ovoid-oblong, somewhat compressed, closely pitted, indehiscent, one-seeded. Seed ovoid, dark brown to black, smooth, adhering to the pericarp. The seeds have a pungent odour when crushed, and a bitter taste.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
October-November
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District(s):
Kottayam, Thrissur, Wayanad
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Occasionally cultivated
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Distribution:
Central Asia to China through India
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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):
Blue
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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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:
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