558
Adenia hondala (Gaertn.) W.J.de Wilde
Synonym
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Adenia
palmate
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Family
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Passifloraceae
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Local name
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Malayalam - Karimuthukku, Muthukku, Modekka
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Flowering and fruiting period
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March-August
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Distribution
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Western
Ghats and Sri Lanka
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Distribution in Kerala
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Palakkad,
Kasaragode, Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kannur, Thrissur,
Wayanad, Kozhikode
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Habitat
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Semi-evergreen
and moist deciduous forests
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Uses
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The tuber
is used to treat hernia.
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Key
Botanical Characters:
Climbers
with tuberous roots, tendrils simple. Leaves palmately 3-5-lobed, lobes to 16
x 6 cm, oblong, membranous, with large circular sessile glands between lobes;
petiole to 8 cm long. Flowers monoecious, in axillary cymes, 10 mm across.
Calyx 13 mm long, lobes 5, ovate. Petals 5, 13 x 2 mm, linear-oblong,
ciliate, attached at the rim of calyx tube. Stamens 5, free, staminodes in
female flowers 5, free. Ovary stipitate, globular, superior, 1-celled; ovules
many, parietal, style 1, 3-fid at apex. Capsule 5 cm across, globose,
3-valved.
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