Common Name: East-Indian Screw tree. Tamil Name: Valam-piri. East-Indian screw tree is actually a shrub that grows to around 2.5 to 3 meters high. Commonly seen in forest edges in Western Ghats area in Tamilnadu. The stem is dark brown, lenticulate and has sporadic black spots. The simple leaves are arranged in an alternate manner; … Read More “Helicteres isora (Stercilaceae- Cacao family)” »
T. secundus is a shrub of tropical South American origin, it grows to a height of about 4 feet. The young branches are green and striated. The simple leaves are arranged in an opposite manner; the leaf margin is entire but wavy. The leaf stalk and leaf measure around 2 mm and 3.2 cm respectively. … Read More “Thyrsacanthus secundus (Acanthaceae- Acanthus family)” »
Common Name: Purple Morning glory, Mysore argyreia. Tamil Name: Kanvalipoo Purple morning glory is a climbing shrub native to India. It grows to height of about 4 feet, the plant is erect with few branches. It is mostly seen around rocky mountain sides of dry deciduous slopes of Western Ghat area. Occasionally seen in Anaikatti … Read More “Argyreia cuneata (Convolvulaceae- Morning glory family)” »
Common Name: Erect prickly pear, Common prickly pear. Tamil Name: Chappathikalli Erect prickly pear is a shrub of Coastal American origin, it grows to a height of about 4 feet. The leafs are rudimentary and fall off quickly. The stem is in the form of flat green succulent structures called cladode. These cladode are ovate … Read More “Opuntia stricta (Cactaceae- Cactus family)” »
Common Name: Fever nut, Bonduc nut. Tamil Name: Kaccuram Fever nut is a thorny shrub with climbing tendency. The plant has wide global distribution and is occasionally found around dry scrub jungle areas of the Western Ghats. The shrub is well armed- recurved hooks are found all over the plant. The leaves are arranged in … Read More “Caesalpinia bonduc (Caesalpiniaceae- Gulmohar family)” »
