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Psychotria barberi
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Family:
RUBIACEAE
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Citation: Psychotria barberi Gamble, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1920: 248. 1920 & Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 642(452). 1921; Deb & Gangop., J. Econ. Tax. Bot. Addl. ser. 7, 91. 1989.
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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:
Shrubs 1.5-2.5 m high; branchlets stout, puberulous when young, glabrous when old. Leaves opposite, 10-16 x 3-10 cm, broadly obovate, elliptic-obovate or elliptic, obtusely acute or acuminate at apex, slightly recurved at margin, cuneate at base, coriaceous, glabrous above, puberulous beneath on midrib, nerves and nervules; midrib slender; lateral nerves 12-15 on either side, subopposite, arcuate, faint above, without domatia; nervules irregularly transverse; petioles 1-2 cm long, thick, puberulous; stipules deciduous, ± 10 x 6 mm, ovate, entire, acuminate or rarely toothed at apex, puberulous above, densely ferruginous villous at base beneath. Inflorescence terminal panicles of cymes, 3-6 x 4-12 cm; branches 5 in a whorl; branchlets trichotomous, opposite or subopposite, puberulous; peduncles 0.5-9 cm long, puberulous; bracteoles persistent, 1-2.5 mm long, linear, acute, pubescent above, densely villous beneath. Flowers heterostylous, 6-8 mm long, white, short tubular; pedicels 1-2 mm long, puberulous. Hypanthium 0.7-1 mm long, ovoid, pubescent; calyx 2-2.5 x 2-3 mm, copular; lobes 5 or 4, narrowly lanceolate, pubescent above. Corolla tube 3-3.5 mm long, membranous, glabrous above, villous at throat within, lobes 5 or 4, 2-2.5 mm long, ovate oblong, shortly inflexed, loosely pubescent above. Stamens 5 or 4, inserted or exserted; filaments 0.2-0.3 mm in long styled flowers or 1-1.2 mm in short styled flowers, adnate at throat. Anthers 1 mm long, narrow or broadly oblong, dorsally convex;. Ovary 0.5 mm long; style 0.5-0.6 mm or 2-2.5 mm long, thin, narrow, glabrous; stigma 2-lobed, 0.5 mm long, elliptic-ovate, thin at margin, papillose or glabrous. Fruits 10 x 8 mm, ellipsoid or ovoid, crowned with persistent calyx lobes, 8 ridged and furrowed, puberulous; stalk 3-5 mm long, puberulous; pyrenes 2, ellipsoid-ovoid, obtuse at apex, cuneate at base, plano-convex, dorsally 4 ridged and furrowed, ventrally without ridges and grooves, thick walled, with raphides; seed 5-6 x 3-4 mm, ovoid, plano-convex sub-acute at apex, obtuse at base, dorsally 4 ridged and furrowed, ventrally without groove.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
April-May
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District(s):
Idukki
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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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:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
Vulnerable (VU)
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Munnar
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