Common name: Goat foot vine. Tamil Nadu: Atampu This plant is a creeping prostrate evergreen vine and is commonly seen in coastal sea coast areas along sand bund. The flexible stem of this plant root freely at nodes and this helps the plant to freely branch in sandy areas. It forms extensive mats in beach … Read More “Ipomoea pes-caprae (Convolvulaceae- Morning glory family)” »
Category: Mangrove/mangrove associates
D trifoliata is scrambling glabrous plant seen in commonly in mangrove habitat areas of India. I encountered this plant at a place called Chorao in Goa. Leaves are arranged alternatively. The pinnate leafs are highly variable and generally seen with 3-5 leaflets. The leaves are ovate-elliptic in shape with acuminate tip and a rounded base. … Read More “Derris trifoliata (Fabacae-pea family)” »
Tamil name: Narikandal. This shrub-sized mangrove plant grows to a height of about 2.5 meters and is commonly seen in coastal and estuarine areas. I saw this plant in Goa, at a place called Chorao. The leaves are simple and arranged spirally. Leaves are elliptic to obovate in shape; the leaf apex rounded or emarginate … Read More “Aegiceras corniculatum (Myrsinaceae-Myrsine family)” »
Tamil name: Chentam Beach Launaea is a perennial, procumbent plant of African origin. The plant leaves are oblong in shape and have pinnately lobed margin. The creeping stem roots at nodes and this helps the plant to spread around in the sandy beach areas. Flowers are attractive and are yellow color. The fruit is in … Read More “Launaea sarmentosa (Asteraceae- Sunflower family)” »
Common name: Ravan’s moustache. Tamil Name: Iravanan-pul. This perennial plant is commonly seen in sand dunes near beaches. The plant can be spotted in coastal beach areas in Tamilnadu, Goa and Konkan. These plants aggregate into large clumps on beach sand dunes. They continuously colonize new areas by deploying their horizontally branching stems which root … Read More “Spinflex littoreus (Family: Poaceae (grass family)” »