Acanthus leucostachyus

Acanthus leucostachyus Wall. ex Nees, Pl. Asiat. Rar. 3: 98 1832. (syn: Acanthus leucostachyus Wall.);

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E. Himalaya to China (Yunnan) and Indo-China: Assam, Bangladesh, China South-Central, East Himalaya, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam as per POWO;
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Herbs to 1 m tall, erect, unbranched. Stem brown, ca. 4 mm in diam., hairy. Petiole 0.8-2.5 cm; leaf blade elliptic, ovate-lanceolate, oblanceolate, or lanceolate, 9-23 × 2-4.5 cm, abaxially glabrescent or brown pubescent along veins, adaxially glabrous, secondary veins 5-8 on each side of midvein and netted near margin, tertiary veins inconspicuous, base rounded to subcordate, margin slightly spinose-dentate but sometimes inconspicuously dentate or occasionally entire, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal spikes, to 16 cm, 4-ranked; rachis grayish pubescent; bracts ovate to obovate, 1-1.5 × 0.5-0.8 cm, abaxially pubescent, palmately veined, base rounded, margins apically spiny, apex acute to acuminate; bracteoles lanceolate to oblanceolate, 1.3-2 × 0.2-0.4 cm, abaxially pubescent, base rounded, margin entire and ciliate, apex rounded with a short tip. Calyx ca. 2 cm, pubescent; lobes unequal, margin ciliate, anterior lobe ca. 1.7 × 0.4 cm, lateral lobes lanceolate and ca. 15 × 2.5 mm, posterior lobe oblong-lanceolate and ca. 2 × 0.5 cm. Corolla white, ca. 2.1 cm, villous; lobes orbicular, ca. 5 × 5 mm, apex emarginate. Staminal filaments ca. 8 mm, glabrous, upper pair curved (S-shaped); anther theca ca. 4.5 mm, pilose. Ovary ca. 3 mm; style ca. 1.1 cm. Capsule ca. 10 × 3 mm, glabrous. Seeds reniform, ca. 2 × 2.5 mm, glabrous. Fl. Feb-May, fr. Aug-Sep.

(Attributions- Compiled from secondary sources listed in references by Poornima Viswanathan for the Assam Biodiversity Portal project as per India Biodiversity Portal)

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ID No. 04022011 RD02:
Date/Time-03/03/2010- 09 AM

Location- Place, Altitude, GPS-  Kokrajhar, Assam, Alt 190m
Habitat- Garden/ Urban/ Wild/ Type- Wild Type
Plant Habit- Tree/ Shrub/ Climber/ Herb-  Herb (15-35cm)
Leaves Type/ Shape/ Size- Leaf  15-26X2-4 cm cm serrated
Inflorescence Type/ Size- as seen in the photos
Flowers Size/ Colour/ Calyx/ Bracts- Yellowish-White,
Fruits Type/ Shape/ Size Seeds- Not seen
Occurrence: Rare

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Could it be any Acanthus sp.

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Could it be Acanthus leucostachyus

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Acanthus leucostachyus Wall. ex Nees !

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References: POWO  Catalogue of Life  The Plant List Ver.1.1  GBIF (High resolution specimens) High resolution specimen  Flora of China  FOC illustration  India Biodiversity Portal  IBIS Flora (FBI)
ecology and taxonomical study of Acanthus leucosyachyus Wall.Ex Nees: A promising ethnomedicinal plant from Assam– Rekha Bora, Ajit Kumar Das, G.d. Sharma and Nanjian Raaman- June 2013 Forest Products Journal 20(2):95-98