Flora of the Nilgiris

Habit : A liana.

Habitat and Distribution : In open rocky slopes and rocky crevices of dry to moist deciduous forests. Endmic to Central Peninsular India. Common in dry hill tracts of Eastern and Western Ghats. Endangered.

Indigenous Information : The tuber has a bitter taste and is pickled. An appetizer, cures stomach problems in children. Tuber harvested and sold to traders for medicinal purposes. Leaves and tubers are crushed and mixed with water and given to cattle to increase appetite.

Field Tips : Plant produces sticky, milky latex. Central vein of the leaf red. Leaf fall in summer.

 

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Names:

Irula : Makaali gaasu
Tamil : Mahaali kizhanku, Mavillinga kizhanku, Peru nannari

Malayalam : Nannari

Flower:

In trichotomous cymes, yellow. Flowering from April-June.

Fruit :

A follicle, cylindrical oblong, in pairs, woody when dry. Seeds many, egg shaped with long white silky hairs. Fruiting from January-February.