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Eriocaulon cuspidatum Dalzell

Family	:	Eriocaulaceae
Flowering and fruiting period	:	September-January
Distribution		Western Ghats
Distribution in Kerala	:	Alappuzha,Kasaragode,Kannur,Malappuram, Kozhikkode
Habitat	:	Wet or marshy places
Endemic/ Exotic	:	Endemic to western Ghats
IUCN status		Endangered
Key botanical Charcters :  Erect herbs; stem condensed, discoid.Leaves 4- erect, membranous, linear-oblong, apex rounded and apiculate or cuspidate,margin thickened; nerves 7-9, slender; venilets transverse, often tessellate. Scapes 1-many together, each 15-30 cm long, grooved; sheath to 10 cm long, obliquely split. Heads 5-8mm across, semispherical or subglobose,white; outer 4-6 involucral bracts larger, mm, membranous, obovate, obtuse or subacute, glabrous, pale yellowish when dry: inner smaller,gradually merging with floral bracts; floral bracts ca. 2 x 1 mm, similar to involucral bracts, glabrous or pubescent upwards. Male flowers: ca. 1.5 mm long. Sepals 2, free, concave,narrowly boat-shaped, hyaline, puberulous on the back. Petals 3, united, long; lobes minute,unequal; anthers 2-celled, subglobose, black. Female flowers: 1.5-2 mm long. Sepals 2, deeply boat-shaped, enlarged on the back into crest-like, hairy wings. Petals 3, free, unequal, narrowly lanceolate, apex broad, fimbriately villous and with conspicuous black gland. Ovary 3-locular; style 3-lobed.