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Psilanthus travancorensis
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Family:
RUBIACEAE
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Citation: Psilanthus travancorensis (Wight & Arn.) Leroy, Compt. Rend. Hebd. Seances Acad. Sci. 29, D:595. 1980; Sivar., Biju & Mathew, Bot. Bull. Acad. Sinica 33: 219. 1992; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 363. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 443. 2009.
Coffea travancorensis Wight & Arn., Prodr. 433. 1834; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 154. 1880; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 637(449). 1921; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 207. 1984; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 190. 1989; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 225. 1994.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Pushkkaramoolam, Pushkkaramulla
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Shrubs, to 1.5-2.5 m tall. Leaves simple, opposite, variable in size and shape, to 12 x 6 cm, broadly ovate, elliptic or oblanceolate, entire, acute or shortly acuminate at apex, acute or cuneate at base, coriaceous, glabrous, shining green above, paler beneath; lateral nerves 5-8 pairs, faint above, raised below, without domatia; petiole 1-3 mm, glabrous; stipules ovate, shortly acuminate at tip, 1.5-2 mm long, glabrous outside and with colleters at base within. Inflorescence 1-5 flowered, mostly on terminal. Flowers white, fragrant, the central flower in 3-5 flowered inflorescence usually ebracteate and ebracteolate, others with one pair of bracts and a pair of closely set bracteoles; bracts ovate-cuspidate, to 1-1.6 mm long, glabrous outside; bracteoles lanceolate, to 2 mm long. Calyx cup-shaped, to 1.2 mm long, glabrous, much shorter than the disc, limb subentire. Corolla glabrous, tube cylindric, 10-18 mm long, lobes 5, elliptic-obtuse, 8-12 x 3-7 mm. Stamens 5, inserted below the throat; anthers sessile, 5-7 mm long, tips exserted. Ovary stipitate, style 1.2 mm, glabrous; stigma 2-lobed, lobes acute, 1-1.4 mm. Fruits blue-black when ripe, depressed globose, didymous, 14 x 20 mm; seeds dark, ellipsoid, 5-7 x 4-5 mm, with a prominent ventral groove.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
October-December
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District(s):
Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Wayanad, Kannur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Sacred groves and scrub jungles
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Distribution:
Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
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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
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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:
Chiyyaram, Varkala, Aroor
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