1119

 Phrynium imbricatum Roxb.

Synonym	:	Phrynium oliganthum Merr.
Family	:	Marantaceae
Flowering and fruiting period	:	April to August
Distribution	:	Bangladesh, Myanmar, S China, India, N and W Thailand, Laos, Vietnam. In India it is very common in North-Eastern Parts
Key botanical characters:   Rhizomatous ground herb. Root stalk creeping; Rhizome tuberous, 4–8 cm long, grayish outer and milky white inside. Leafy shoot 75–140 cm long, sometimes forming dense clusters upto several meters in diameter. Leaves 3–6 per shoot;petiole 35–70 cm long, olive green, surface slightly hairy; pulvinous 3–5 cm long, puberulent; midrib thickened with puberulent along the margins; lamina elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 22–50 × 8–17 cm, green above, light green beneath, glabrous, slightly plicate along the primary veins, base abruptly cuneate, tip obtuse with an acumen. Inflorescence interfoliar, erect, usually appearing to protrude from the petiole of the accompanying leaf, sessile, capitate with 2–4 distinct spikes, 5–7 × 3–5 cm; Bracts elliptic, 3–3.2 × 2.3–2.4 cm, olive green to dark grey, glabrous or basally pilose, apex spreading, obtuse soon withered and turning brown, margin slightly distorted, woody, 12–18 in number. Flowers yellow, c. 2.7 cm long. Fruits ellipsoid to obovate-ellipsoid, 1.3–1.5 × 0.7–0.9 cm; pericarp brown, shiny, dry and brittle. Seeds 2 or 3, ellipsoid, 7–9 mm long.