1217

 Maranta    arundinacea L.

Synonym	:	Maranta indica Tussac is
Family	:	MARANTACEAE
Local name	:	Malayalam-Koovva English-Arrow root
Flowering and fruiting period	:	March-April
Distribution	.	India and Sri Lanka
Distribution in Kerala	:	Kottayam, Kasaragode, Kollam,.
Habitat	:	Cultivated
Uses	:	Arrowroot is used as a nutritional food for infants and for people recovering from illness. It is also used for stomach and intestinal disorders, including diarrhea.
Key botanical characters: Plants erect, Rhizomes tuberous, thickened. Stem often branched above. Leaves: basal 4--8, cauline 1--8; sheath auriculate, 4.5--31 cm, margins and apex densely pilose to nearly glabrous; petiole often absent in cauline leaves, 3.5--20 cm; pulvinus 0.2--1.8 cm, adaxiallytomentose; blade ovate, 3.5--35 ´ 3--11 cm, basal leaves largest, abaxially glabrous to minutely pilose, adaxially sparsely minutely pilose. Inflorescences: bracts 1--2(--3), 2.4--6 cm; common pedicel of flower pair 2.3--5.5 cm. Flowers: sepals 10--17 mm; corolla white, corolla tube curved, 12--14 mm; staminodes white; ovary tan, densely pubescent, rarely glabrous or nearly glabrous. Fruits green or tinged red-brown,