Indianthus virgatus (Schumannianthus virgatus)

Tall plants with compound leaf cluster on top of cane like stem. Geographical 

Distribution:

     SE Asia from Malaysia eastwards to the New Hebrides.

Pic : Vagamon, Kerala

Thorny Nightshade (Solanum virginianum)

കാന്താരി ചുണ്ട 

Common name: Thorny Nightshade, Yellow Berried Nightshade, Thai eggplant

Botanical name: Solanum virginianum   

Family: Solanaceae (Potato family)

Synonyms: Solanum surattense, Solanum xanthocarpum

Thorny Nightshade is a herb which is erect or creeping, sometimes woody at base, 50-70 cm tall, copiously armed with sturdy, needlelike, broad-based prickles 0.5-2 cm × 0.5-1.5 mm. Leaves are unequal paired; stalk 2-3.5 cm, prickly; leaf blade ovate-oblong, 4-9 × 2-4.5 cm, prickly along veins, margin usually 5-9-lobed or pinnately parted, lobes unequal, sinuate, apex acute. Inflorescences elongate racemes 4-7 cm. Sepal tube is bell-shaped 1 cm in diameter. Flowers blue-purple, 1.4-1.6 × 2.5 cm; petals ovate-deltate, 6-8 mm, densely pubescent with stellate hairs. Filaments 1 mm; anthers 8 mm. Style 1 cm. Fruiting pedicel 2-3.6 cm, with prickles and sparse stellate hairs. Fruiting sepals prickly, sparsely pubescent. Berry pale yellow, 1.3-2.2 cm in diameter. Flowering: November-May.

Medicinal uses:  Boiled decoction (കഷായം) of dry plant is prescribed for stomach and liver complaints

pic/2009 MH   

Clasping-Leaf Borage (Trichodesma inaequale)

Clasping-Leaf Borage

Botanical name: Trichodesma inaequale    

Family: Boraginaceae (Forget-me-not family)

Synonyms: Trichodesma amplexicaule

Clasping-Leaf Borage is an erect hairy herb with scattered hairs. Lower leaves are oppositely arranged, stalkless. linear-oblong. Upper ones are alternately arranged, heart-shaped, stem-clasping, broadly ovate, long pointed. Flowers appear singly, laterally on branches or opposite the leaves. Sepals are shortly and obtusely eared. Flowers are pale blue with rounded petals which are flat, with a point at the tip. Flower throat is hairy. Clasping-Leaf Borage found in Mumbai and neighbouring area. This flowers is closely similar to Indian Borage, but can be distinguished by two features - one, leaves are stem-clasping, they are only half-clasping in Indian Borage; two, the stamens do not protrude out, whereas in Indian Borage they protrude out.

Pic 2009/ MH,GUJ border 

Sweet Hibiscus or Sunset Hibiscus (Abelmoschus manihot)

Common name: Sweet Hibiscus, Edible Hibiscus, Manihot-mallow, Sunset Hibiscus, Yellow Hibiscus

Botanical name: Abelmoschus manihot   

Family: Malvaceae (Mallow family)

Synonyms: Hibiscus manihot

Sweet Hibiscus is characterized by big and glorious, 5-6 inch across, pale yellow Hibiscus type flowers with deep burgundy & garnet eyes. Growing to 5 feet tall, this stout and almost woody annual bears magnificent, tropical looking leaves, and so it looks cool even before it blooms mid-summer. There can be big differences in leaf shape, color and production and flavor but leaves are usually palmate, about 4 inches across. It grows very quickly. Cuttings taken in spring can reach over 2 meters by autumn in sub-tropical areas. While the large yellow flowers are very ornamental, the importance of this plant is that it is one of the world's most nutritious leafy vegetables because of its high protein content. The leaves are tender and sweet and can be served raw or steamed

pic2009 / Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Pink Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus)

Pink Coral Vine 

Botanical name: Antigonon leptopus

Family: Polygonaceae (Knotweed family)

Habitat - Disturbed areas, roadsides, hammocks.

Description - Introduced category 2 invasive species, reaching lengths of 30 to 40 feet and climbing by tendrils. Cordate leaves are up to 4 inches long with entire, slightly undulate ( wavy ) margins. The upper leaf surface has recessed veins & wrinkled appearance.

photo/pune2009

Crape jasmine (Tabernaemontana divaricata) Nandyar vattom

Crape jasmine - Nandyar vattom

Botanical name: Tabernaemontana divaricata

Family: Apocynaceae (Oleander family)

Synonyms: Ervatamia divaricata, Nerium coronarium

Crape jasmine, a shrub very common in India, generally grows to a height of 6 ft. However, it can also grow into a small tree with a thin, crooked stem. Like many members of the Oleander family, stems exude a milky latex when broken. The large shiny leaves are deep green and are 6 or more inches in length and about 2 inches in width. Crape jasmine blooms in spring but flowers appear sporatically all year. The waxy blossoms are white five-petaled pinwheels that are borne in small clusters on the stem tips. Flowers are commonly used in pooja in north and south India.

Pic: Kerala, IND

DAISY FLEABANE (Erigeron bellidioides )

Flowers of Himalaya

DAISY FLEABANE 

Botanical name: Erigeron bellidioides 

Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)

Synonyms: Aster bellidioides

Daisy Fleabane are carpeting plants which spontaneously bloom in hill-stations, on the ground with wild grass, peering from wall cervices, and almost any place available. This evergreen perennial with green foliage, produces an abundance of yellow centered, small daisy-like flowerheads in summer. The outer petals are initially white, maturing to pink. Native to the Indian Subcontinent: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan.

WALLICH GERANIUM (Geranium wallichianum)

Flowers of Himalaya

WALLICH GERANIUM

Botanical name: Geranium wallichianum

Family: Geraniaceae (Geranium family)

Wallich Geranium is a perennial herb with paired rose-pink to red-purple flowers with pale centers. Flowers are 2.5-4 cm across. Sepals are bristly haired on veins. Plants usually have large stipules which are an identifying feature. Leaves are mostly 4-8 cm across, 3-5 lobed, the lobes are broad-rhombic, further lobed and toothed. The plant has a much branched stem, growing up to 1-4 ft tall. 
Flowering: June-September

Pic: mana village uttarakhand 09

Rugged Yellow Balsam (Impatiens scabrida)

flowers of Himalaya

Rugged Yellow Balsam

Scabby Balsam 

Botanical name: Impatiens scabrida

Family: Balsaminaceae (Balsam family)

Synonyms: Impatiens cristata

Rugged Yellow Balsam is a rather robust often much branched plant with large lemon yellow flowers spotted with brown within. Flowers are borne several in each axil, 3-4 cm long, with a broad funnel-shaped lower sepal suddenly contracted to a slender spur 1.5-3 cm long. Upper petal is rounded and spurred. Lateral sepals pubescent, ovate-suborbiculate, 5-7 x 4-7 mm, sometimes mottled brown-black. The short-stalked leaves are 5-15 cm, elliptic to lacelike, long pointed, with acute teeth. Stem is finely hairy, 2-4 ft tall. Rugged Yellow Balsam is found in shrubberies, forests and damp places, at altitudes of 1200-3600 m, from Kashmir to Bhutan. 
Flowering: May-September.

Pic:Uttarakhand 09

BUSH SORREL (Hibiscus surattensis)

Bush Sorrel

Common name: Bush Sorrel, Wild Sour, Bush Althea

Botanical name: Hibiscus surattensis   

Family: Malvaceae (Mallow family)

Synonyms: Furcaria surattensis

Bush Sorrel is a weak-stemmed, prostrate or climbing plant covered with soft hairs and scattered prickles. The leaves are rounded, up to 10 X 10 cm, and deeply and palmately 3- to 5-lobed, the lobes being toothed. The flowers are yellow, with a dark center, and occur singly in leaf axils. Petals are obovate, up to 6 cm long and 4 cm wide. This flower can be easily identified by its unique false sepals, which are 8-10 in number. The false sepals (actually bracts) are forked into a spoon-shaped outer part, and a narrow linear inner part. But for this feature, the plant can be confused with Deccan Hemp. The capsules are hairy and ovoid. The seeds are downy. Bush Sorrel is found throughout the tropical world. Its leaves are commonly used as pot-herb in many parts of Africa and Asia. Flowering: September-March.

Pink Powder Puff

Pink Powder Puff

Botanical name: Calliandra brevipes

Family: Mimosaceae (Touch-me-not family)

Synonyms: Anneslia brevipes, Calliandra selloi

This Pink Powder Puff is very different from the pink form of the common Powder Puff. It is a small shrub with double- compound leaves. The number of leaflets is much larger than that in common Powder Puff. Leaflets are very closely spaced and are often 'closed up'. This one never grows taller than 1.8m. Flowers are a beautiful powder-puff of erect stamens which are white towards the base and pink above. Pink Powder Puff is native to South America.

Painted Leaf Begonia - Begonia picta

Begonia picta - Himalaya India

Common name: Painted Leaf Begonia

Hindi: पत्थरचट्टा - Pattharchatta - Mizo: Lalruangaarawhna - Nepali: मगर काँचे Magar kanche

Botanical name: Begonia picta

Family: Begoniaceae (Begonia family)

Painted Leaf Begonia is a common begonia of the Himalayas. It is a tuberous herb, 10-18 cm tall. Leaves are few, 4-12 cm long, 3.5-10 cm wide, broadly ovate, doubly toothed, base heart- shaped, tip long-pointed. Upper leaf surface is hairy, lower hairy on veins. Leaves are often blotched purple or variegated, hence the common name. Leaf stalk is 3-10 cm, hairy. Light pink flowers are borne elevated above the leaves. Male flower have 4 petals, outer ones 1.2 x 2 cm, nearly round to broadly ovate, obtuse, pink; inner petals 3 x 8 mm, oblong, pink-white. Stamens are numerous. Female flower have 5 petals, 8-12 mm long, ovate-oblong. Styles are 3, persistent. Capsule is pendulous, 7-20 mm long, 3-winged; wings pointing upwards, green, unequal, 3-8 mm, 7-20 mm and 7-25 mm broad, all velvety. Flowering: August-September.

A tuberous rooted species growing from rock crevices and mud ledges. dormant in winter. New growth starts from late spring and produces beautifully colour leaves. Flowers throughout summer with clusters of showy deep pink flowers. A form with plain green leaves also exists.

Locally known as makkar-kajay.

Habitat: Eastern Himalayas in shaded ledges, along roadsides and among humus filled rock crevices.

Ethnobotany: The succulent petioles are sour and are used locally for making pickle.

thanks to www.flowersofindia.com