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   

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

Water hyacinth – Kulavazha (Eichhornia Crassipes)

Water hyacinth – Kulavazha 

Family: Pontederiaceae

Botanical name: Eichhornia Crassipes

Kulavazha, African payal, Neerpola

Water hyacinth is a free-floating perennial aquatic plant (or hydrophyte) native to tropical and sub-tropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 meter in height. The leaves are 10–20 cm across, and float above the water surface. They have long, spongy and bulbous stalks. The feathery, freely hanging roots are purple-black. An erect stalk supports a single spike of 8-15 conspicuously attractive flowers, mostly lavender to pink in colour with six petals. When not in bloom, water hyacinth may be mistaken for frog's-bit (Limnobium spongia).

One of the fastest growing plants known, water hyacinth reproduces primarily by way of runners or stolons, which eventually form daughter plants. It also produces large quantities of seeds, and these are viable up to thirty years. The common water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) are vigorous growers known to double their population in two weeks.

Water hyacinth has been widely introduced in North America, Asia, Australia, Africa and New Zealand. They can be found in large water areas such as Louisiana, or in the Kerala Backwaters in India.

The Whole plant of Kulavazha is used for goiter, swelling and burning sensation.

Pic:Kerala

Himalayan Fleabane (Erigeron multiradiatus)

Flowers of Himalaya

Himalayan Fleabane (Erigeron multiradiatus)

Botanical name: Erigeron multiradiatus 

Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)

Erigeron is a genus of about 200 species - The most widely used common name, fleabane, is shared with related plants in several other genera. Himalayan fleabane is a beautiful perennial with erect hairy stem upto 12-30 cm, and aster-like flowers. Leaves can be inversely ovate or lance-like, pointed or blunt, entire or coarsely toothed. Flower-heads vary in size 1.5-5 cm across, solitary or clustered, long stalked. "Petals" or ray florets are dark purple, long thread like, spreading. The central disk is yellow.

Pic: Uttarakhand, INDIA (September 15) 2009  

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.

ചുവന്ന അരളി (red arali) Oleander

ചുവന്നഅരളി Oleander

(red arali)

Scientific name : Nerium indicum

Family :Apocyanaceae

Habitat :Perennial bush

Medicinal Uses : Tincture of bark is cathartic , emetic and febrifuge . Roots are made in to plaster and applied on wounds .

Oleander • Hindi: Kaner कनेर • Manipuri: কবীৰৈ Kabirei • Tamil: அரளி Arali • Bengali: Raktakarabi 

Botanical name: Nerium oleander Family: Apocynaceae (oleander family)

Synonyms: Nerium indicum

Beautiful blossoms, of fragrant pink flowers in bunches, at the tip of branchlets rendering an eye-catching sight that is 'Oleander'. A native of India and the Mediterranean, it is now widely grown in tropical and subtropical gardens, parks, avenues, and is popular for its hue and fragrance. It rises up to 3 meters erect with its short branches and dark dusty green leathery narrow leaves, which grow in whorls. The are narrow lancelike, 5-21 cm long and 1-3.5 cm broad, and with an entire margin. The flowers grow in clusters at the end of each branch; they are white, pink or yellow, 2.5-5 cm diameter, with 5 petals fringed at the base. They are often, but not always, sweetly scented. The fruit is a long narrow capsule 5-23 cm long, which splits open at maturity to release numerous downy seeds. The plants are almost free from pests and diseases and untouched by cattle and goats, due to their toxicity. In India they are thus the most favoured plants for the road dividers, where a plant has to withstand heat and dust, and little water. 

There are single and double forms in white, pink and red. Several other cultivars have been developed - once example is a popular variety called 'Petit Salmon' which is a dwarf that grows to only 4 ft (1.2 m).