798
Ruellia tuberosa L.
Synonym
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Cryphiacanthus barbadensis Nees
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Family
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Acanthaceae
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Local name
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Malayalam -
Meadow weeds
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Flowering and fruiting
period
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March-November
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Distribution
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Native of Tropical
America; naturalised in India and Malesia
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Distribution in Kerala
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Kottayam, Alappuzha,
Kannur, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Malappuram
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Habitat
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Wastelands in the plains
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Endemic/Exotic
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Exotic
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Uses
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It is used as diuretic, anti-diabetic,
antipyretic, analgesic,
antihypertensive, gastroprotective, and to treat gonorrhoea.
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Key Botanical
Characters:
Glabrescent herbs; rootstock with numerous
fleshy tubers. Leaves, elliptic-obovate or obovate-oblong, base cuneate to
attenuate, apex obtuse. Flowers blue, solitary or in 3-flowered cymes,
axillary or terminal; bracts and bracteoles linear. Calyx lobes subequal,
linear, acute, ciliate.Stamens 4, included; filaments hairy below; anthers
3-4 mm long, sagittate, puberulous; staminode linear.
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