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Hedyotis hirsutissima
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Family:
RUBIACEAE
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Citation: Hedyotis hirsutissima Bedd., Madras J. Lit., Sci. ser. 3, 1: 49. 1864 & Ic. t.2. 1868-1874; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 55. 1880; Sasidh. & Anto in Manoharan et al., Silent Valley-Whispers Reason 142. 1999; Pradeep, Fl. Vellarimala 73. 2000; Dutta & Deb, Taxonomic Revision Hedyotis 63. 2004.
Oldenlandia hirsutissima (Bedd.) O.Ktze., Rev. Gen. Pl. 1: 292. 1891; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 599(422). 1921.
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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:
Shrubs or undershrubs, 50-150 cm long; branches leafy above and with scars of stipules and fallen leaves below; stem obtusely angular or terete, glabrous. Leaves opposite, sessile or shortly petioled, 1-5 x 0.8-2.5 cm, ovate or elliptic-lanceolate, mucronate at apex, attenuate at base, coriaceous, densely yellowish hirsute on both surfaces; nerves 3-4 pairs, strong, raised below, hirsute; petiole stout, 1-2 mm long, hirsute; stipules sheathing at base, 1-2 x 2-4, deeply pectinate, hirsute. Inflorescence axillary, peduncled, panicle of few flowered corymbose cymes; branches slender, shorter than leaves, dense hirsute. Flowers 18-20 mm long, hirsute outside, bracteate; pedicel 1-2 mm long; bracts foliaceous, 1-4 x 0.8-2 mm, linear-lanceolate. Hypanthium 1.5-3 mm long; calyx limb 1-2 mm long; lobes 4, 2.5-3.5 mm long, lanceolate, acuminate; midnerve prominent. Corolla campanulate; tube 12-13 mm long, dense pubescent inside, lobes 4, ovate, acute, 5.5-6.5 mm, minute pubescent inside. Stamens 4, exserted; filaments 2-3.5 mm long, adnate at the throat; anthers 1-2 mm long, oblong-linear. Ovary 1-1.5 mm long; ovules many; style 8-9 mm long, slender; stigma bilobed, 0.5-1 mm long, fleshy, pilose. Capsule 2-3 x 2-2.5 mm, globose, top enclosed within calyx lobes, hirsute; seeds 0.7-1 x 0.5-0.7 mm, angular, narrowly winged; exotesta reticulate, brownish.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
November-March
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District(s):
Kozhikkode, Palakkad
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Ecotones of shola and grasslands
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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):
Violet
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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:
Endangered (EN)
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Sispara, Vellarimala
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