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Piper silentvalleyensis
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Family:
PIPERACEAE
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Citation: Piper silentvalleyensis Ravindran, M.K. Nair & Asokan Nair, Journ. Econ. Tax. Bot. 10: 167. 1987; Biju in Manoharan et al., Silent Valley-Whispers Reason 168. 1999.
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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:
Slender extensively branched climbers; stems about 0.5-1 cm thick, swollen at the nodes; branches terete, entirely glabrous; stipules small, laterally fused to form a lanceate structure of 0.3-0.5 cm long, hirsute and deciduous. Leaves alternate, 5-8.5 x 2.0-3.5 cm, elliptic-lanceate, somewhat coriaceous, glabrous on both sides, base acute, more or less asymmetric, tip caudate acuminate, often bent, prominently ribbed, of 2pairs of lateral ribs the first arises near the petiole and the other about 0.5 cm above, ribs more pronounced on the dorsal side; petiole 0.3-0.5 cm long and quite glabrous. Spikes 2.5-5.5 cm long, ascending; peduncle 0.2-0.3 cm long, glabrous, furrowed when dry, never longer than petiole; bracts orbicular, peltate, stalked, ± 0.07 cm in diameter. Flowers bisexual, stamens two, very short; anthers 2-lobed, reniform and attached transversely at the tip of the filament, dehiscing by longitudinal cleft. Ovary globoid, astylocarpellous, stigma minute and 3-lobed. Fruit a small drupe, mature one ± 0.1 cm across and slightly longer length-wise, obovate in shape with striations, pungent.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-May
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District(s):
Palakkad
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats (Kerala)
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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):
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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:
Kerala
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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