946

Hygrophila balsamica (L. f.) Rafin

Family	:	Acanthaceae
Local name	:	English-Giant Aqua Rose
Flowering and fruiting period	:	October-December
Distribution	:	Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
Distribution in kerala	:	Wayanad
Habitat	:	Paddy fields and swampy areas
Key Botanical Characters :  Viscid aquatic herbs, to 80 cm tall, rooting at lower nodes; branchlets 4-gonous. Leaves opposite, heterophyllous; upper aerial ones lanceolate-acute, margin serrulate, lower ones often pinnatifid; submerged leaves pectinate. Flowers axillary; bracts lanceolatebracteoles linear,. Calyx lobes 5, almost free, unequal, ciliate, green with a white midrib, 3-4 nerved, other lobes lanceolate acute. Corolla white, tube 6 mm long, Capsule hairy; seeds many, 0.4 x 3 mm, flat, brown, retinacula minute, straight.