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Aeschynomene aspera
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
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Citation: Aeschynomene aspera L., Sp. Pl. 173. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 152. 1834; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 331(234). 1918; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 118. 1989; Joseph, Aquatic Angiosp. Malabar 167. 1991; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 197. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Neerkadasam, Ponguchedi
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Pith plant
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Description:
Marshy herbs or shrubs 1-2.5 m tall; stem spongy, pith-like, often 1.5 cm or more in diam. Leaves 7-15 cm long; leaflets sessile, 25-50 pairs, 0.6-1 x 0.1-0.2 cm, linear-oblong, base obtuse, oblique, margins ciliolate, apex obtuse, apiculate, stipules 0.7-1.5 cm long, lanceolate, peltate. Racemes axillary, 2-4-flowered, to 5 cm long. Flowers 15-20 mm long; bracts 3-5 x 1.5-3 mm, cordate, hispid; bracteoles 4-5 mm long, ovate, acute, ciliolate. Calyx 5-7 mm long, hispid. Corolla yellow; standard petal c.1.8 x 1.5 cm; wings c. 8 x 4 mm; keels 1.8 x 0.8 cm, hirsute without. Staminal sheath to 7 mm long; anthers c. 2 mm long, ovoid. Ovary to 1 cm long, tomentose; ovules many; style to 6 mm long. Pods 5-7 x 0.7-0.8 cm, compressed, 4-8-articulate, echinate over seeds, indented along both margins, dark brown. Seeds 5-6 x 3-4 mm, reniform, black.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
August-December
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District(s):
Thrissur, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kollam, Kozhikkode
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Marshes, paddy fields and banks of ponds
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia
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Aquatic:
Yes
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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:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Elanginelvallikavu
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