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Phyllanthus tenellus
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Family:
EUPHORBIACEAE
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Citation: Phyllanthus tenellus Roxb., Fl. Ind. 3: 668. 1832; Dhruvan & Ramla, Journ. Econ. Tax. Bot. 21: 731. 1997; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab., Fam. Euphorbiaceae India 382. 2007; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 648. 2009.
Phyllanthus corcovadensis Muell.-Arg. in Mart, Fl. Bras. 11: 30. 1873.
Diasperus tenellus (Roxb.) O.Ktze., Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 601. 1891.
Phyllanthus minor Fawcett & Rendle, J. Bot. 57: 65. 1919.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Melarnelli
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Erect annual herbs 20-75 cm tall; stem simple or with permanent branchlets, subterete below, channelled above, glabrous, 3-12 cm long, with 10-25 leaves Leaves alternate, 0.5-2.1 x 0.3-1.1 cm, broadly elliptic to obovate, subacute at tip, acute to rounded at base; petioles 0.5-0.8 mm long; stipules lanceolate-acuminate, 0.8-1.2 x 0.2-0.3 mm. Flowers minute in axillary bisexual or unisexual cymules of 1-5 flowers on deciduous branchlets. Male flowers 1.5 mm across, white, 1-3 in unisexual cymules of 1 or 2 proximal nodes and in bisexual cymules of succeeding 3-10 nodes with female flowers; pedicels filiform, 0.5-1.5 mm long; sepals 5, imbricate, broadly obovate, acute to rounded at apex, 0.5-0.7 x 0.5-0.8 mm, membraneous, whitish with a narrow greenish midrib; disk segments 5, broadly cuneate, thin, entire, 0.2 mm across; stamens 5, free, alternate with the disk segments; filaments filiform, 0.2-0.4 mm long, bent near the tip; anthers oval, dehiscing vertically. Female flowers 1.4-1.6 mm across, 1 or 2 in the bisexual cymules of proximal 3-10 nodes and solitary in the succeeding distal nodes; pedicels capillary, 2.5-6 mm long, terete basal olive green; sepals 5, triangular-ovate, 0.6-0.8 x 0.3-0.5 mm, whitish with a thick greenish midrib, somewhat cuculate and acute at the apex; disk annular to somewhat 5-gonoal, membraneous; ovary smooth; style 3, appressed to ovary, cleft to 2/3; lobes diverging, the tips subcapitate. Capsule depressed-globose, 1.3-1.5 mm across, greenish, smooth; stalk 4-6 mm long; seeds trigonous, 0.75-0.8 x 0.6-0.65 mm, densely papillose.
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Habit:
Herb
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Flowering & Fruiting:
June-December
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District(s):
Alappuzha, Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Thrissur
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Waste places and plantations
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Distribution:
Native of Mascarene Islands; now established in many tropical countries
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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):
White, Creamy
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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:
Pallode, Elavupalam, Vallikunnu, S.L. Puram
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