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Tinospora formanii
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Family:
MENISPERMACEAE
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Citation: Tinospora formanii Udayan & Pradeep, Edinburgh J. Bot. 66: 77. 2009.
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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:
Woody dioecious climbers; bark smooth, shining, papery, peeling off in thin scales, with prominent leaf-scars; stems up to 4 cm thick, with several prominent concentric rings, lenticellate. Leaves alternate, 6-14 3 4-8 cm, ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, coriaceous, glabrous, acuminate at apex, cordate at base, entire; basally 3-nerved, lateral nerves intra-marginal, running to tip of lamina, distinctly looping along margin; lateral nerves 3-4 pairs, reticulation more prominent on lower surface, glandular patches present in basal nerve axils; petioles slender, slightly swollen and geniculate at base, 5-12 cm long, often drying blackish at least at the swollen base and near the lamina. Male inflorescences and flowers unknown. Female inflorescence: a compound elongated pseudoraceme, 5-18 cm long; peduncle c.20 cm long; pedicels 0.5-1.5 cm long; sepals 6, triangular ovate, 2 mm long, greenish-yellow, glabrous, stout; petals 6, ovate, 2 mm long, greenish-yellow, glabrous, stout; staminodes 6, subulate, c.1.3 mm long, stout; stigma sessile, flat, 3-cleft; carpels 3, ellipsoid c.2 mm long; gynophore c.1 mm long. Infructescences up to 25 cm long. Drupes globose, 2 together, 2-3 cm across, red when mature; carpophores 2-3 cm long on 2 cm long peduncles with terminal stylar scar; pericarp thin; endocarp broadly elliptic to subrotund in outline, 2-2.5 3 2-2.5 cm, hard, rigid, tuberculate; aperture small, c.2 mm long on ventral face; condyle intrusive; seeds oblong, subellipsoid, dorsally convex, ventrally narrow-grooved lengthwise, reniform in cross-section; endosperm abundant, horny.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
January-May
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District(s):
Thrissur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Semi-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):
Yellow
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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:
500-650
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Localities:
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