Menthonni
Scientific Name :
Gloriosa superba L.
Synonym(s) :
Eugone superba (L.) Salisb.
Local/Common name(s) :
Menthonni
Family :
Liliaceae
Habit :
Climber
Flowering/Fruiting Time :
July-March
Habitat :
Semi-evergreen, moist, deciduous and dry deciduous forests and sacred groves
Endemic :
No
Status (IUCN) :
Least concern (LC)
Distribution :
India, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Africa, Madagascar; Kerala: throughout
Nativity :
Indigenous
Uses :
Medicine, Poison
Description (Morphology) :
Herbaceous climbers with tuberous roots. Leaves subsessile, altemate, opposite or whorled, ovate-lanceolate, base cordate or amplexicaul, apex acuminate, ending in a tendril. Flowers bisexual, showy, axillary, solitary or in few-flowered, terminal racemes; pedicel to 7 cm long. Perianth-lobes 6, free, linear-oblong, reflexed or spreading, base narrow, margin undulate, apex acuminate, yellowish below and reddish above. Stamens 6; filaments 3-4 cm long; anthers oblong-linear, versatile. Ovary oblong, 3-locular; ovules numerous; style to 4 cm long, deflexed; stigmas 3. Capsule elipsoid-oblong; seeds many, 3 mm, globose, warty.