Exacum anamallayanum Bedd. : Image by Shahina Shanavas, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click link to see details).
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Exacum lawii C.B.Clarke : Images by Alka Khare (ID Shrikant Ingalhalikar), Prashant Awale (ID Shahina Shnavas), Prashant Awale, Dalia (ID Aditya Dharap) and Narendra Joshi (ID Aditya Dharap), inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click link to see details and more images).       
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Exacum paucisquamum (C.B.Clarke) Klack. : Images by Dinesh Singh Rawat, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click link to see details).
 
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Exacum pedunculatum L.: Images by Anurag Sharma, Muthu Karthick (ID Vijayasankar Raman), P. Santhan, Prasad Dash, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click links to see details and more images).
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Images by Prashant Awale (ID Shahina Shanavas) and Vijayasankar Raman, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click links to see details and more images).
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Exacum pumilum Griseb. : Images by Satish Nikam, Prashant Awale (ID Shahina Shanavas), Prabhu Kumar, Dinesh Valke, Prasad Dash and Pravin, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (please click links to see details and more images).
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Exacum tetragonum Roxb.: Images by Shahina Shanavas, Nirupa (ID Dinesh Valke), Prashant Awale and Pravin, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click links to see details and more images).
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Exacum travancoricum Bedd. (Image by Shahina Shanavas, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click link to see details).
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Images by Subhanjan Kayet (ID Smita Raskar) and Prabhu Kumar, inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click links to see details and more images).    |
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A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF EXACUM L. (GENTIANACEAE – EXACEAE) IN SOUTH INDIA. Shahina & Nampy, Int. J. Advanced Res. 4(3): 1677 (2016)
(Abstract: The paleotropic genus Exacum (Gentianaceae: Exaceae) is revised for South India, recognizing twelve species and one variety. E. wightianum var. uniflorum is synonymized under E. klackenbergii while E. grande is reduced to the variety of E. tetragonum. Nine out of thirteen taxa (75%) are endemic to the southern Western Ghats while one is critically endangered (E. travancoricum), one endangered (E. tetragonum), one vulnerable (E. courtallense) and six are rare (E. anamallayanum, E. atropurpureum, E. klackenbergii, E. lawii, E. tetragonum var. grande and E. wightianum). The problems in the typification of E. courtallense var. laxiflorum are discussed. Detailed taxonomic descriptions, photoplates and a key to the identification of species in South India are provided.)
Keys:
Key to the species of Exacum
1a. Flowers tetramerous …. 2
1b. Flowers pentamerous ……. 7
2a. Leaves with a distinct petiole; calyx wings enlarging in fruit, with prominent veins ….7. E. petiolare
2b. Leaves sessile-subsessile; calyx wings not enlarging in fruit, without prominent veins …..3
3a. Leaf base not amplexicaul; petals bicoloured ….. 10. E. tetragonum
3b. Leaf base amplexicaul; petals single coloured … 11. E. tetragonum var. grande
4a. Calyx winged …….. 5
4b. Calyx without wings ……6
5a. Cymes never clustered, often solitary or 1–3 flowered ……. 8. E. pumilum
5b. Cymes often clustered, 1–5 flowered. …… 6. E. pedunculatum
6a. Flowers sessile-shortly pedicellate, pedicels 0.5–1.5 cm long; central flower drooping …….9. E. sessile
6b. Flowers always long pedicellate, pedicels 2–4.5 cm long; flowers not drooping .…….5. E. lawii
7a. Stems 4-angular, winged; anthers papillate; fruits drooping ….. 13. E. wightianum
7b. Stems terete, woody; anthers not papillate; fruits not drooping …….. 8
8a. Leaves petiolate …… 4. E. klackenbergii
8b. Leaves sessile-subsessile …… 9
9a. Leaf base amplexicaul; lamina coriaceous …… 1. E. anamallayanum
9b. Leaf base not amplexicaul; lamina non coriaceous ……… 10
10a. Anthers rectangular …….. 2. E. atropurpureum
10b. Anthers bottle shaped ……. 11
11a. Habit cushion type; leaves succulent …….. 12. E. travancoricum
11b. Habit non cushion type; leaves not succulent ……. 3. E. courtallense
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Indian Gentianaceae: A Check-list By Sunita Garg (1988)- Brief details-
| Binomial | Habit | Notes | Ref. | Distrib. |
| Exacum anamallayanum Bedd. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Coimbatore, Dindigul |
| Exacum atropurpureum Bedd. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Kanniya kumari, Tirunelveli |
| Exacum courtallense Arn. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Kanniya kumari, Tirunelveli |
| Exacum grande Klack. | Herb | Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Coimbatore, Nilgiri, Salem |
| Exacum lawii Clarke | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987; Fischer 1921 |
Coimbatore |
| Exacum pedunculatum L. | Herb | Plains to Low Altitude, Moist Localities |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
All districts |
| Exacum petiolare Griseb. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Coimbatore, Nilgiri |
| Exacum pumilum Griseb. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Coimbatore |
| Exacum sessile L. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Coimbatore, Kanniya kumari, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli |
| Exacum tetragonum Roxb. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987; Clarke 1883 |
Coimbatore, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli |
| Exacum travancoricum Bedd. | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Kanniya kumari, Tirunelveli |
| Exacum wightianum Arn. var. uniflorum Henry & Subram. | Shrub by Herb |
Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands, Endemic |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Tirunelveli |
| Exacum wightianum Arn. var. wightianum | Herb | Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Grasslands |
Flora of Tamil Nadu, VOL. II, 1987 |
Coimbatore, Dindigul, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli |
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Species with description & pictures in Flowers of India as on 30.3.14:
| Botanical name | Synonyms | Family | Common name |
| Exacum lawii | Gentianaceae | Law’s Persian Violet | |
| Exacum pedunculatum | Gentianaceae | Stalked Persian Violet | |
| Exacum pumilum | Gentianaceae | Little Persian Violet | |
| Exacum tetragonum | Exacum tetragonum var. stylosa, Exacum perottetii, Exacum bicolor | Gentianaceae | Bicolor Persian Violet |
| Exacum wightianum | Gentianaceae | Wight’s Persian Violet |
Exacum tenue (Gentianaceae): A new record for India A.K. Biswal, N.C. Rout1*, N.K. Dhal1 and M.V. Nair2. Rheedea Vol. 21(2) 174-176 2011.
Abstract- Cotylanthera Blume (Exacum L.) is a less known genus in India found mostly in Himalayas (1000 – 2000 m). The rarity of the taxon is reflected from its non-representation in Indian Herbaria including CAL. The genus has confused taxonomists since its discovery till it was found to be nested in genus Exacum L. (Gentianaceae) in early part of this century. There are only four saprophytic and achlorophyllous species reported for the genus from Old World. Exacum tenue (Blume) Klack. is reported here as a new report for Indian Gentianaceae from Similipal, Odisha. Its occurrence in a geographically isolated region from its earlier reported localities is of ecological and phytogeographical significance.
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Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History edited by Lena Struwe, Victor A. Albert (2002)- Details
Exacum pedunculatum
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Exacum carinatum Roxb.is a synonym of Exacum pedunculatum
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Aquatic and Semi-aquatic Plants of the Lower Ganga Delta: Its Taxonomy … By Kumudranjan Naskar (1990)- Details with keys-
Exacum pedunculatum
Exacum tetragonum
Flora of Madhya Pradesh: Chhatarpur and Damoh By G. P. Roy, B. K. Shukla, Bhaskar Datt (1992)- Details-
Exacum pedunculatum
I have updated eFI (efloraofindia) page on Exacum
Attempts have been made to incorporate most of the species available in India & nearby areas with details & keys directly or through links as far as possible. It’s quite possible that there may be some discrepancy in the accepted names & synonyms taken from other links.
Species discussed so far in efloraofindia are given at the bottom of the page in the form of links against Subpages. On clicking them one can see all the details.
If someone can provide complete list of Indian species with source references it will be wonderful.
Any comments/ corrections are welcome.
Exacum (Gentianaceae) page with images of species in efloraofindia : 1 post by 1 author.
Pl. go through Exacum (Gentianaceae) page with images of species in efloraofindia.
If you find any incorrect identification, pl. let us know. If anybody can send images of other species of this genera (for incorporation in the website), if any, or can identify unidentified images, it will be really nice.
