Dendrocnide sinuata (Bl.) Chew - URTICACEAE

Synonym : Urtica sinuata Bl.; Laportea crenulata (Roxb.) Gaud.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Otta-pilavu, Anaichorian,Malayalam: Anamayakki, Aanavannangi, Aanayaviratti, Kattanplavu, ChoriyannamEnglish: Elephant fever nettle, Devil nettle, Mouse nettle

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large shrubs or small trees ca. 5 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark white, smooth, lenticellate; blaze whitish.
Branchlets : Branchlets terete with glandular stinging hairs.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipule caducous and leaving scar; petiole 2-6 cm long, terete, with glandular stinging hairs; lamina 9.5-34 x 2-11.5 cm, narrow oblanceolate to elliptic, apex acuminate, base attenuate-cuneate to obtuse, margin subentire or crenulate, coriaceous, with glandular stinging hairs; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 8-11 pairs; tertiary_nerves distantly obliquely percurrent.
Flowers : Inflorescence axillary panicles, drooping, to 20 cm long; flowers unisexual, subsessile.
Fruit& seed : Achenes.

Ecology :

Along streams and understorey trees in wet evergreen forests up to 1200 m.

Distribution :

Peninsular India and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- throughout.

Literature :

Chew, Gard. Bull. Singapore 21: 206. 1965; Gamble, Fl. Madras 3: 1373. 1998 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 431. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 125.1984.

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