Pinwheel flower
Scientific Name :
Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R. Br.
Synonym(s) :
Nerium divaricatum L.
Local/Common name(s) :
Nandyarvattom, Pinwheel flower
Family :
Apocynaceae
Habit :
Shrubs
Flowering/Fruiting Time :
Throughout the year
Habitat :
Mostly cultivated as garden plant
Endemic :
No
Status (IUCN) :
Least concern (LC)
Distribution :
Native of Southern Himalayas
Nativity :
Indigenous
Uses :
Ornamental, Medicine
Description (Morphology) :
Shrubs or small trees, bark pale grey-brown, rather deeply longitudinally fissured, lenticellate. Leaves opposite, pairs equal or unequal, elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 3-18 x 1-6 cm, acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base or decurrent into the petiole; lateral nerves 5-17 pairs, tertiary venation inconspicuous, more or less reticulate; petiole glabrous, 3-10 mm long. Inflorescence1-30 flowered, rather lax; peduncle glabrous, 0.5-8 cm long; pedicels glabrous, 3-20 mm long; bracts scale-like, about 1 mm long, more or less persistent. Flowers fragrant. Sepals pale green, 2-3.5 x1-2 mm, connate at the base, ovate, or sometimes narrowly ovate, rounded, obtuse or sometimes acute, often ciliate, glabrous outside, glabrous inside and with 1-4 colleters in 1 row. Corolla white, often with a yellow throat, lobes obliquely elliptic or obovate, more or less falcate, 15-27 x 8-20 mm, rounded, spreading. Stamens from below mouth of corolla tube, inserted 0.25-0.33 of the length of the corolla tube; filaments short, 0.5-1 mm long, filiform, glabrous; anthers narrowly oblong, apex obtuse or acute. Ovary ovoid, gradually narrowed into 4.5-8 mm long filiform style; ovules approximately 20 in each carpel. Fruit of 2 separate mericarps, orange, red or less often green, obliquely and narrowly ellipsoid, 20-70 x 6-15 x 6-15 mm, acuminate or apiculate at the apex, with 2 clear or faint lateral, slightly torulose when dried; seeds 2-10, aril deep orange or red.