1143

 Anaphyllum wightii Schott 

    

Family	:	ARACEAE
Local name	:	Malayalam- Keerikkizhangu.
Flowering and fruiting period	:	January-February
Distribution	:	Southern Western Ghats
Distribution in kerala	:	All districts
Habitat	:	Evergreen and semi-evergreen forests.
Uses	:	Rhizome used as medicinal purposes
Key Botanical Characters: Tall herbs, rhizome creeping. Leaves pinnatisect or pinnatipartite; lobes 3-8 pairs, 20-28 x 5-10 cm, usually narrower, elliptic to oblong, apex acute, sessile or petiolulate; petiole 60-150 cm long, erect, 5-10 cm thick, smooth or transversally rugose, brownish. Spadix 15-30 cm long, 5-8 cm broad; spathe open, deep brown, once or twice twisted; spikes 4.5 cm long, 8-10 mm thick. Flowers bisexual, densely arranged, 3-6 mm across; perianth lobes 4, obovate, truncate; stamens 6, free, filaments broad; ovary 1-celled, ovule solitary, style short, stigma discoid. Fruit a globose achene.