Common Name: Indian sesame oil plant. Tamil Name: Peerel
Indian Sesame oil plant is a hairy, villous prostrate plant. This plant is seen on sandy rocky areas, in Palakkad it is often found on bare mountains with a shallow layer of soil. The stem is rectangular, hairy the plant spreads out in straight lines and can grow to over 3 meters in length. The leaves are bunched at nodes of the plant. The simple leaves are arranged in an alternate manner; leaves are ovate-orbicular in shape; the leaf base is cuneate; and the leaf margin crenate. The leaf stalk and leaf measure around 7-8 mm and 2 cm respectively. The inflorescence is axillary and single. The flower stalk measure around 1.2 mm; and flower measures around 3.3 cm. The tubular flowers are dark pink to violet in color; one petal is longer that the rest-resembling a shovel. The calyx has 5 ribbed green teethes: the calyx measure around 1.6 mm. The funnel of the flower has golden dots. The fruit is in the form of a 10 mm capsule. The seeds are black, reticulate and measurer around 2 mm each.
