Meineckia parvifolia

S. India, Sri Lanka as per POWO;
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Shrubs, monoecious. Leaves to 3 x 2.5 cm, ovate, apex acute, base truncate or rounded, membranous, glabrous, lateral nerves 3-4 pairs, slender; petiole to 2.5 cm long. Perianth lobes ovate or obovate, obtuse, margins hyaline. Capsule 3 mm across; seeds brown

Flowering and fruiting: October-December
Moist deciduous forests
Peninsular India (Endemic)
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Confirmation of identification please. : Attachments (2).  3 posts by 2 authors.
Please confirm if it is Phyllanthus tenella, Photographed at E.ghats near Udayagiri, Nellore district.
Both male and female flowers with filiform pedicels. plant a slender herb.

This not Phyllanthus tenellus. Please study it in detail.

This plant is Meineckia parvifolia (Wight) G.L.Webster, Acta Bot. Neerl. 14: 342 (1965). earlier it is referred as Neopeltandra suberosa Gamble; the description matches with the description given in Flora of Madras Presidency by Gamble. Please foraward it to … for confirmation

This is the description written by me
Description: Slender under shrub to 30 cm tall; base slightly woody, stems slender, angular, branches up to 15cm, internodes about 1.5-2cm. Foliar leaves alternate, stipules 1-2mm long, triangular; petiole to 3-4mm; leaf blade about 1.5-2.5×1-1.5cm, thin, glabrous, elliptic, apex apiculate; lateral nerves ca 4-5.
Flowers in axillary short androgynous racemes with 4-5(-8) flowers; usu. 1 female in the axillary raceme; both male and female flowers with long pedicels (about 1.2-2cm). Flowers 5-merous. Perianth lobes 5 in both sexes; green
with a wide white scaly margins on either side.
Male flower: Minute, ca 2.5mm diam., perianth lobes ovate, obtuse; disk glandular, stamens 5, erect, the filaments connate below in to a column, free above; anthers reniform, yellow, dithecous.
Female flowers: Perianth lobes 5, triangular, persistent, disk small, flat, ovary 5 loculed, slighitly ridged; styles 3, connate below, stigmas bifid.
Fruit: Fruiting pedicel slightly thickened, capsule, ca 3-5mm diam., globose, smooth. Seeds with longitudinal very slender ridges and minute cross lines.
Flower and fruiting season: Nov-December(Post monsoon)
Distribution: Few plants are found in forest undergrowth in hilly areas- in Eastren ghats.
14.52’; 79.19 E
Meineckia parvifolia
Yes. It is the correct identity. I have checked it with Flora of India. There is only one doubt, the female sepals in the species are five but in the photo six sepals are seen. However, I think this only an individual variation. Thank you for the identification. It never struck my mind.

 

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