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Prosopis juliflora
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Mimosoideae)
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Citation: Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC., Prodr. 2: 447. 1825; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 72. 1992; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 123. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 113. 2002; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 272. 2009.
Mimosa juliflora Sw., Prodr. 85. 1788.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Sali, Vanni
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Velvet mesquite, Algaroba
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Description:
Trees, to 10 m high, bark deeply wavily fissured, yellowish-brown; branchlets zig-zag, glabrous; spines straight, ca. 5 mm long, solitary or paired, divergent, upto 5 cm long on older branches. Leaves bi-pinnate, alternate; stipular thorn to 1.5 cm long; petiole 1-5 cm long, slender; pinnae 2-4, even pinnate, 3-11 cm long, slender, flattened, ending in a short bristle, a circular gland near the base of lower pinnae; leaflets 22-36, opposite; petiolule to 3mm; lamina 6-23 x 1.5-5 mm, oblong or linear-oblong, base obtuse, apex obtuse, emarginate or mucronulate, margin entire, glabrous, chartaceous; midrib slightly excentric; lateral nerves prominent beneath. Flowers bisexual, 1.5 mm across, greenish-yellow, subsessile, in axillary spikes, to 12 cm long; bracteoles minute; calyx 1.5 mm long, campanulate, glabrous, 5-toothed; petals 5, ligulate, sub coherent at base; stamens 10, free, slightly exserted; anthers with an apical gland; ovary superior, stipitate, pubescent, ovules many; style filiform; stigma minute. Fruit a pod, 20-30 x 1.5 cm, pale yellow, glossy, smooth, flattened, with straight parallel sutures or irregularly sub moniliform; seeds ovoid, brown, embedded in pulpy mesocarp.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
October-February
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District(s):
Palakkad, Alappuzha, Idukki, Kasaragode
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Planted as fuel wood tree
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Distribution:
Northern South America, C. America to Mexico and Antilles, widely naturalised in Tropical Asia
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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):
Yellow
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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:
Chinnar, Keerapady, Aroor
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