Kattupalvalli

Scientific Name :

Cryptolepis buchananii Roem. & Schult.

Synonym(s) :

Cryptolepis dubia (Burm.f.) M.R.Almeida

Local/Common name(s) :

Kattupalvalli

Family :

Asclepiadaceae

Habit :

Climber

Flowering/Fruiting Time :

March-August

Habitat :

Moist and dry deciduous forests, also in the plains

Endemic :

No

Status (IUCN) :

Distribution :

India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, China; Kerala: throughout

Nativity :

Indigenous

Uses :

Medicine

Description (Morphology) :

Climbing shrubs with milky latex. Leaves elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, base acute or cuneate, apex obtuse or apiculate. Glabrous and glossy, lower surface glaucous; lateral nerves 10-15 pairs, horizontally parallel; petiole to 1 cm long. Inflorescence axillary dichotomous cymes, shorter than leaves. Peduncles to 2 cm long. Flowers 5-merous, lax. Calyx lobes 5, 2-2.5 cm long, ovate-acute, with 5 scales at base on inner side. Corolla greenish-yellow; tube 1-2 mm long, cylindric; lobes 5, 3-5 mm long, linear- lanceolate, twisted to right, Corolla greenish-yellow; tube 1-2 mm long, cylindric; lobes 5, 3-5 mm long, linear-lanceolate, twisted to right in buds, ovate-acute, with 5 scales at base on inner side. Coronal lobes 5, clavate. Pollen granular, united in tetrads. Carpels 2, apocarpous; ovules many. Follicles 2, woody, c. 7 cm long. Seeds flat, with silky coma.