Common Name: Velvet leaf. Tamil Name: Vatta-t-tiruppi.
Velvet leaf is a slender, twinning, dioecious (female and male plant separate) herb with pan-tropical presence. The simple leaves are arranged alternatively and spirally. The leafs are pale green in color and soft hairy on both sides. The stem of plant is light green in color with some purple patches and have white soft hairs all over. The leaf stalk measure around 1.2 cm and the leaf measure around 3.5 cm in length. The leafs are triangular-ovate in shape with a cordate base. The male inflorescence is axillary and seen in close clusters. The flowers are greenish in color. The female flowers have conspicuous orbicular hairy bracts. The fruit is in the form of a drupe which in red in color -and dry later into black color. Velvet leaf is a much valued medicinal plant in several traditional systems of medicine. This plant is occasionally seen in Nilgiri Ghat road.
