876

Psilanthus travancorensis (Wight & Arn.) Leroy,

Family	:	Rubiaceae
Local name	:	Malayalam-Pushkkaramulla
Flowering and fruiting period	:	October-December
Distribution	:	Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
Distribution in Kerala	:	Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram
Habitat	:	Sacred groves and scrub jungles
Uses	:	It is reported to cure anaemia, cardiac diseases, skin diseases, oedema, ulcers, inflammatory swellings
Key botanical characters : Shrubs, to 1.5-2.5 m tall. Leaves simple, opposite, variable in size and shape, broadly ovate, elliptic or oblanceolate, entire, acuminate at apex, acute or cuneate at base, coriaceous, glabrous, shining green above, paler beneath; lateral nerves 5-8 pairs, faint above, raised below, without domatia; stipules ovate, shortly acuminate at tip,  glabrous outside and with colleters at base within. Inflorescence 1-5 flowered, mostly on terminal. Flowers white, the central flower in 3-5 flowered Calyx cup-shaped, glabrous, much shorter than the disc, limb subentire. Corolla glabrous, tube cylindric, , lobes 5, elliptic-obtuse. Stamens 5, inserted below the throat; Fruits blue-black when ripe, depressed globose, seeds dark, ellipsoid, with a prominent ventral groove.