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Nymphoides indica
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Family:
MENYANTHACEAE
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Citation: Nymphoides indica (L.) O.Ktze., Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 429. 1891; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 175. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 265. 1984; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 237. 1985; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 254. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 453. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 297. 1990; Joseph, Aquatic Angiosp. Malabar 136. 1991; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 308. 1994; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 436. 1997; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 329. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 451. 2009.
Menyanthes indica L., Sp. Pl. 145. 1753.
Limnanthemum indicum (L.) Griseb., emend Thw., Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 205. 1860; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 131. 1883; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 883(621). 1923.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Chinnambal, Panchi, Thakaram
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Floating hearts
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Description:
Rhizomatous herbs; rhizome 2-3 cm thick with prominent branch scars. Primary fertile branches many, petiole-like and uniphyllous, highly variable in length depending on the depth of water; secondary branches sympodial, zig-zag, many-jointed, trailing on water surface; each joint uniphyllous; nodes often rooting. Leaves all cauline, fertile and floating, to about 25 cm across, ovate-orbicular, base deeply cordate with narrow sinuses, entire or subentire, fleshy, glossy green above, pale and gland-dotted beneath ; petiole to 3 cm long. Flowers bisexual, distylous in umbellate clusters from the junction of the petiole and the branch; bract to 7 x 4 mm, ovate or oblong; pedicel 5-10 cm long. Calyx deeply 5-partite; lobes to 6 x 2 mm, oblong-acute, green with hyaline margins. Corolla white with yellow throat; tube c. 2 mm long; lobes 5, to 13x4 mm, elliptic or oblong, acute, densely covered with long, white hairs within. Stamens as many as corolla lobes, dimorphic; filaments yellow. Ovary bottle- shaped; stigma sinuately 4-8 lobed; disc glands as many as stamens, orbicular. Capsules ellipsoid. Seeds c. 1.5 mm across, discoid, brownish, tubercled.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
Throughout the year
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Ponds and ditches
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Distribution:
Paleotropic
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Aquatic:
Yes
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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):
White
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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:
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Localities:
Tiruvalla, Nileswar, Nemmara, Kanichukulangara, Angadikkal, Nellikuth, Arikode
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