1310

Laportea interrupta (L.) Chew, Gard. 

Family	:	Urticaceae
Local name	:	Malayalam- . Anachorian
Flowering and fruiting period	:	August-September
Distribution	:	Paleotropics
Distribution in kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Degraded deciduous forests, also in the plains
Key botanical characters: Erect monoecious annual herbs with stinging hairs. Leaves simple, alternate, 4-10 x 3-5 cm, broadly ovate, apex acuminate, base rounded or subcordate, margin coarsely serrate, sparsely hairy, membranous, 3-nerved from base; petiole to 8 cm long. Flowers in short, cymose clusters aggregated in slender lax, axillary spikes to 13 cm long. Male flowers: tepals 4, c. 1 mm long, ovate, concave; stamens 4, filaments unequal; pistillode linear, clavate. Female flowers: tepals 4, unequal, basally connate into a cup; ovary obliquely attached, ovoid, style lateral, filiform. Achenes c. 2 mm across, ovoid,