Common Name: Minnieroot, Fever root. Tamil Name: Pattaskai
Fever root is an erect small shrub of Central American origin; it is widely grown in India as an ornamental plant. It is commonly seen in house gardens and road-sides in Tamilnadu. The plant has a tuberous fleshy root. The stem of the plant is ribbed and slightly hairy. The simple leaves are arranged in opposite manner; the leaf margin is slightly dentate. The leaf lamella runs down almost to the bottom of the petiole; the leaf stalk measure around 5 mm. The leaf is around 7.2 cm long; elliptic in shape, with an acute tip. The inflorescence is in the axillary; mostly a single flower is seen sometimes around three flower buds are seen. The calyx is fused below and it has 5 long lanceloate sepal teeth. The flowers are bell shaped with 5 petal segments fused together. The petals are violet in color; the flower tube measurers around 4 cm; petals are obovate in shape and slightly crumpled in appearance. The flower encloses 4 stamens in two sets of different sizes (didynamous); the stamen filaments are white in color. The flower has a single style measuring around 2.4 cm. The fruit is in the form of a capsule (2 cm long). The fruit color is initially green in color and changes to brown when mature. The pod explode to release the seeds (hence the name Pattaskai in Tamil). Fever root is the larval host plant for Tiny grass blue and Blue pansy butterflies (source: www.ifoundbutterflies.org)
