Common Name: Velvet beauty berry. Tamil Name: Kattu-k-Kumil
Velvet beauty berry shrub is an intensely wooly-tomentose shrub that grows to a height of about 3 meters. This shrub is seen around Western Ghats in India and in Sri Lanka. The simple leaves are arranged in an opposite manner; young branches of the plant are four sided. The petiole measurers around 4 cm and the leaf measurers around 13 cm. The underside of leaf is silvery white and wooly and the leaf nerves are exposed prominently. The inflorescence is in the from of an axillary cyme; flowers petals are purple in color and have four petals. The flowers are sessile; the calyx measurers around 1-2 mm in length. The flower petal measurer around 2-3 mm. The flower encloses four stamens and a single style. The fruit is in the form of a round drupe. Initially the fruit is green in color, on maturity the color changes to purple. The fruit encloses around 3-4 seeds. Velvet beauty berry has the potential to be developed as an indigenous ornamental plant.
