Nice caption and information too. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful *Caralluma *species.
On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 10:07 AM, Prabhu kumar KM <prabhumkris...@gmail.com>wrote: > > Dear all, > This is *Carlluma diffusa *(Wight) N. E. Brown, collected from Tamil > Nadu. > > *Caralluma* R.Br., > > *Caralluma* named from the Arabian 'qarh alluhum', a flesh wound or > abscess; for the floral odour of some species (Keith Bensusan, 2009). *C. > indica* flower with rotten fungus like odour is the best example for > this. The genus *Caralluma* is mainly paleotropical in its distribution > and is the most widely distributed group among the stapeliads, from the > Canary Islands in Macaronesia to the Indian subcontinent (Bruyns et al. > 2010). The subtribe Stapeliinae G. Don. belongs to the tribe Ceropegieae > Decne ex Orb. of the subfamily Asclepiadoideae R. Br. ex Burnett (Endress & > Bruyns 2000, Meve & Liede 2004). This subfamily has traditionally been > treated as a family Asclepiadaceae, but molecular evidence has demonstrated > that the group, monophyletic though it is, is ested within the Apocynaceae > Juss. (A.P.G. 2009.) > > Stem fleshy; branches ascending, 4-angled, nearly of equal thickness > throughout the branches; internodes glabrous. Leaves absent, leaf scars > present, with appendage-like growth at nodes on angled portion. Flowers in > terminal umbellate cymes, many-flowered; bracts triangular, acute at apex, > glabrous; pedicels terete, glabrous. Calyx 5-lobed, divided up to base; > lobes lanceolate, acute at apex, glabrous. Corolla campanulate, lobes 5, > ovate, acute at apex, ciliate at margin only, otherwise glabrous. Corona > biseriate; the outer annular, arising from base of stamens, closely intact; > lobes with two horn like appendages widely separated from each other; the > inner variable, linear, arising from inner side of outer corona, > overlapping anther-lobes. Stamens 5, pollinia 5, pollen masses solitary in > each anther cell, yellow, waxy with pellucid layer attached by light brown > caudicles. Follicles up 10-15 cm in long. > > Type: India: Madras Presidency; Coimbatore District, arid rocky mountains > near Coimbatore at 600m elevation. > > Flowering & Fruiting : Throughout the year. > > -- > *Prabhu Kumar K M* > Scientist > Plant Systematics & Genetic Resources Division > Centre for Medicinal Plant Research (CMPR) > & 'CMPR' Herbarium > Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala > Kottakkal, Malappuram > *E-mail: prabhumkris...@gmail.com* > > -- Mr. Mayur D. Nandikar, Research Student, Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur. 07507013607
