908

Rotala macrandra Koehne

Family	:	Lythraceae
Local name	:	English: Giant Red Rotala
Flowering and fruiting period	:	September-January
Distribution	:	Western Ghats
Distribution in kerala	:	Wayanad, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kannur, Malappuram, Kozhikkode, Thrissur, Ernakulam
Habitat	:	Marshy areas and ponds
Endemic/Exotic	:	Western Ghats
Uses	:	Popular aquarium plant that is most commonly used in aquarium scaping. It is known to grow relatively fast when the conditions in the tank are made favorable for it with sufficient nutrients provided to it.
Key Botanical Characters : Annual or perennial herb.Stem terete, creeping and rooting below, branches decumbent; aerial stem reddish tinged. Submerged leaves in whorls of 3 to begin with, lanceolate and decussate, ovate-acute later on; aerial leaves decussate, sessile, 1 - 2 cm across, ovate-orbicular, base cordate, apex obtuse or rounded, fleshy, reddish tinged, brownish on drying. Flowers are terminal, simple or branched, bracteate spikes, monomorphic. Bracts closely imbricating, broadly ovate-acute. Bracteoles linear. Calyx tube to 1 mm long, campanulate; lobes 4, to 1 mm long, triangular-acute, pink, appendages absent. petal 4, 1.5-2 mm long, obovate - obtuse, rose. Stamens 4, exserted, inserted at the base of the calyx tube. Ovary globose; style to 3 mm long. Capsule 1.5-2 mm across, globose, 4-valved. Seeds semi-ellipsoidal.