| |
Polygala javana
|
| |
|
| |
Family:
POLYGALACEAE
|
| |
Citation: Polygala javana DC., Prodr. 1: 327. 1824; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 201. 1872; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 58(42). 1915; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 75. 1984; R.N. Banerjee in B.D. Sharma & N.P. Balakr., Fl. India 2: 473. 1993; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 65. 1994; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 18. 1995; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 77. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 62. 2005; R.N. Banerjee & N.P. Balakr. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 298. 2005.
Polygala javana var. angustifolia Thw., Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 22. 1864; Karthik. et al., Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 80: 64. 1985.
|
| |
Malayalam Name(s):
Kodassari
|
| |
Tamil name(s):
|
| |
English name(s):
|
| |
Description:
Erect-ascending herb or undershrubs, 15-100 cm high; stems woody at base; branches divaricate, slender. Leaves alternate, subsessile, obovate, oblanceolate or elliptic-oblong-linear, cuneate or attenuate at base, obtuse or rounded-mucronate at apex, (5-)15-45 x (2-)5-20 mm, rusty-strigose on both surfaces; petioles 1-2 mm long, puberulous. Flowers 7-8 mm long, in axillary terminal or leaf opposed erect or pendulous 2-9 cm long (2-)5-15 (many) flowered racemes; bracts 3, ovate, 1-3 x 0.5-1 mm, puberulous, rarely caducous; pedicels to 6 mm long. Sepals 5, unequal, puberulous, yellow; outer sepals broadly ovate or lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, acute or subacute, mucronate, 1.5-4 x 1.2-2.5 mm; wing sepals broadly ovate, 3-angled, cordate at base, obtuse or subacute and mucronate at apex, 6-12 x 4-9 mm, distinctly nerved, yellowish turning pale green or reddish violet, persistent. Petals 3, adnate at base for ½, yellow; lateral petals ovate or elliptic-oblong, ca 3 mm long; keel petal 4-5 mm long, pale yellow or green with violet multifid filiform ca 2 mm long crest on back of apex. Stamens 8, pinkish; sheath 2-4 mm long, encircling style; free portion of filaments 0.5-0.7 mm long; anthers oblong-ovoid. Ovary stipitate, obcordate to 1 mm long, velutinous; style curved, broad towards middle, to 5 mm long; stigma subterminal, funnel- shaped, violet. Capsules broadly oblong or suborbicular, notched at apex, margined, 4-6 x 3-5 mm, puberulous; seeds oblong, ca 4 x 2.5 mm, densely stiff-pubescent; caruncle hood-shaped, 3-armed, with 2 arms larger and winged, as long as and covering seed.
|
| |
Habit:
Herb
|
| |
Flowering & Fruiting:
September-March
|
| |
District(s):
Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram
|
| |
Medicinal:
Yes
|
| |
Habitat:
Weed in cultivated lands
|
| |
Distribution:
Sri Lanka, South East Continental Asia and Malesia
|
| |
Aquatic:
No
|
| |
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
| |
Saprophyte:
No
|
| |
Stem parasite:
No
|
| |
Root parasite:
No
|
| |
Flower colour(s):
Yellow, Pink
|
| |
Weed:
No
|
| |
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
| |
Exotic:
No
|
| |
Garden:
No
|
| |
Edible:
No
|
| |
Vegetable:
No
|
| |
Endemic to:
|
| |
IUCN status:
|
| |
Altitude:
800-1000
|
| |
Localities:
Vallicode, Aryankavu, Rockwood, Athirumala
|