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Acalypha fruticosa Forssk.

Family	:	Euphorbiaceae
Local name	:	English - Birch leaved acalylypha Malyalam - Chini, Kuppameni, Sinnimaram
Flowering and fruiting period	:	July – August
Distribution	:	Paleotropics
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Dry deciduous forests and wastelands
Uses	:	Leaves are used in digestive, cholera, colic and diarrhoea. Roots and leaves are used in gonorrhoea, indigestion, diarrhoea, vomiting, insect bite and food poisoning.
Key Botanical Characters:  Erect profusely branched shrubs. Leaves  ovate, base truncate or subcordate, margin crenate-serrate, apex acuminate, hairy on both sides, aromatic, glandular below, glands orange; petiole to 3 cm long. Spikes short, axillary, solitary, androgynous, to 2 cm long. Tepals tomentose, with sessile glands outside. Stamens many; anthers sub-globose to oblong. Female flowers below, sessile; bracts reniform, margin dentate;  Capsules trilobe.