{"id":1410957,"date":"2017-01-22T07:11:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T07:11:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-12-24T12:08:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T06:38:38","slug":"phyllanthus-airy-shawii","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/efi\/phyllanthus-airy-shawii\/","title":{"rendered":"Phyllanthus airy-shawii"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Phyllanthus<\/i> airy-shawii<\/i> Jean F.Brunel & J.P.Roux, Nordic J. Bot. 4: 470 1984 <\/i>(syn: Phyllanthus debilis<\/em>\u00a0Wall. ex Hook.f.<\/a>);<\/span>
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\nIndian Subcontinent to N. Thailand: Assam, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand,<\/span> West Himalaya as per POWO<\/a>;
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Erect herbs to 50 cm tall; stem angled; branches 6-14 cm long. Leaves 1-2 x 0.3 -0.5 cm, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, base attenuate or broadly cuneate, apex obtuse or acute, lower surface subglaucous, subsessile; stipules c. 2 mm long, lanceolate, acuminate. Male flowers towards tip of branchlets, clustered at axils; tepals 6, in 1 series, 1-1.5 mm long, obovate, hyaline; disc-glands 6, roundish; stamens 3, on a staminal column formed of connate filaments. Female flowers solitary; pedicels c. 2 mm long; tepals 6, c. 2 mm long, elliptic-oblong, margin hyaline; disc saucer-form, faintly 6-lobed; ovary c. 1 mm long; style-arms recurved. Capsule 2-3 mm across, globose, smooth. Seeds 6, trigonous, longitudinally striate. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Flowering and fruiting: July-January<\/span><\/div>\n
Degraded moist deciduous forests and forest plantations, also in the plains<\/span><\/div>\n
Peninsular India and Sri Lanka<\/span><\/div>\n
(Attributions- Dr. N Sasidharan (Dr. B P Pal Fellow), Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi from India Biodiversity Portal<\/span><\/a> )
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\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC_0165%20-%20Copy.JPG\"<\/a>\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DSC_0164%20-%20Copy.JPG\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Phyllanthus sp for ID confirmation<\/a> : 7 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (<\/span>2<\/span>)
\n<\/span>Collected <\/span>from a village<\/span> near Jodhpur<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Appears to be <\/span>Phyllanthus airyshawii<\/i> Brunel & J.P. Roux. Close-up of flowers and fruits would have helped.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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May I request you to pl. send close up.
\n<\/span>Phyllanthus airy-shawii <\/span><\/i><\/a>is shown as a syn. of <\/span>Phyllanthus<\/i> kozhikodianus<\/i> Sivar. & Manilal, J. Indian Bot. Soc. 56: 165 (1977).<\/span><\/a> in WCSP & <\/span>Catalogue of Life<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I feel pity for the websites that you have mentioned!
\n<\/span>Phyllanthus kozhikodianus<\/i> Sivar. & Manilal itself is a synonym of <\/span>P. rheedei<\/i> Wight.
\n<\/span>As regards <\/span>P. airyshawii <\/i>Brunel & J.P. Roux, the spelling of the species name can go without a hyphen between airy and shawii (Art. 60.9 of the ICN). Next, this is a distinct species and it even replaced <\/span>P. debilis<\/i> Wall. ex Hook.f. of the Flora of British India (1887).
\n<\/span>The easiest way to recognize P. airyshawii<\/i> is that the proximal leaves of a given branchlet in this species are more than double in the size than the distal leaves of the same branchlet (apart from other characters).\u00a0<\/span> The images posted \u00a0here clearly depict this feature.
\n<\/span>I have examined the types of all the above names and therefore I have no hesitation is calling the present images as <\/span>Phyllanthus airyshawii<\/i> Brunel & J.P. Roux.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Here perianth members are 6 as in the case of Phyllanthus debilis<\/i>., leaves are broader and shorter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ID-DKB178b.jpg\"<\/a>\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ID-DKB178a.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ID-DKB178<\/a>\u00a0:\u00a0Attachments\u00a0(2).\u00a012 posts by 5 authors.
\nPlant\u00a0from Virat nagar Forest Jaipur
\n<\/span><\/span>For ID(ID-DKB178)
\n<\/span>It is\u00a0Phyllanthus<\/i>?
\n<\/span>Photo Taken\u00a0on-26.8.2009<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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this is\u00a0Phyllanthus amarus<\/i>\u00a0(\u092d\u0941\u0908\u0906\u0935\u0933\u0940)<\/b><\/u>
\nFamily :-\u00a0Phyllanthaceae<\/i><\/p>\n

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I think\u00a0Phyllanthus reticulatus
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\u2026 <\/span>Phyllanthus amarus
\n<\/i>commonly known as: black catnip, carry me seed, child pick-a-back, gale of wind, gulf leaf flower, hurricane weed, shatterstone, stone breaker \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Bengali<\/b>: bhui amla \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Hindi<\/b>: bhui aonla, jar amla, jangli amli \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Kannada<\/b>: kirunelli, nelanelli \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Marathi<\/b>: \u092d\u0941\u0908\u0906\u0935\u0933\u0940 bhuiavali \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Sanskrit<\/b>: bahupatra, \u092d\u0942\u092e\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092e\u0932\u0915\u0940 bhumyaamalaki, jar amla, thamalaki \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Tamil<\/b>: \u0b95\u0bc0\u0bb4\u0bbe\u0ba8\u0bc6\u0bb2\u0bcd\u0bb2\u0bbf keelanelli, \u0b95\u0bc0\u0bb4\u0bcd\u0b95\u0bbe\u0baf\u0bcd\u0ba8\u0bc6\u0bb2\u0bcd\u0bb2\u0bbf kizkaynelli \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Telugu<\/b>: \u0c28\u0c47\u0c32 \u0c09\u0c38\u0c3f\u0c30\u0c3f nela usiri<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I thought the plant photographed by \u2026\u00a0appeared to be shrubby, and fruits larger and black<\/span>\u2013 hence my guess about\u00a0reticulatus<\/i>.<\/span><\/div>\n
P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0Linn,\u00a0P. amarus<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0are three distinct species, but Indian specimens don\u2019t belong to\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0rather\u00a0P. fraternus. P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0thus is not synonym of\u00a0P. amarus<\/i>\u00a0(not\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0Linn or\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0Hook.f.).<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0has larger leaves and 6 perianth, male and female fls in different axils (male in lower axils, female in our axils), and 6-10 lobed disc.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
P. amarus<\/i> has smaller leaves (yours are larger than mine P. fraternus hence the doubt), perianth 5 and 5-lobed disc.
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\u2026, the leaves in the photo attached by me are about 12 \u2013 15 mm long, and about 5 \u2013 8 mm wide \u2026 the fruits seen are about 2 \u2013 3 mm.
\n<\/span>I am believing it to be\u00a0P. amarus<\/i>,<\/span>\u00a0and also\u00a0<\/span>P. niruri<\/i> as its synonym.
\n<\/span>However, I am keen to know whether I am mistaking, especially because there is too much mix up of\u00a0<\/span>P. amarus<\/i>,\u00a0<\/span>P. niruri<\/i>, and\u00a0<\/span>P. fraternus<\/i> on the internet \u2026though whatever is discussed seemingly contradict.
\n<\/span>Any clarity for differentiating these three species will greatly help in thrashing confusion and mistakes on the internet.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Phyllanthus fraternus<\/i>\u00a0(with\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0Hook.f. non Linn. as syn) and\u00a0P. amarus<\/i>\u00a0are both described in Eflora of Pakistan. Latter is described in Eflora of China, who mention that it was formerly misidentified as\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Presence of 5 perianth<\/span>\u00a0(as against 6 in\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>),<\/span>\u00a0each leaf axil (most middle) with one male and one female flower<\/span>\u00a0(female flowers single in leaf axils in\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>),<\/span>\u00a0disc 5 lobed<\/span>\u00a0(as against 6-10 lobed)<\/span>\u00a0are quite characteristic of\u00a0P. amarus<\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0Leaves are described as 3-8 x 2-4.5 mm in Eflora of Pakistan, 3-6 x 1.5-3 mm in Flora of China<\/span>. Your plant with larger leaves could be different species.<\/span><\/div>\n
P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0grows around my house and I have observed it constantly.<\/span><\/div>\n
Let us explore further
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thank you very much for pointing info of the species.
\n<\/span>So is it correct that \u2026 plant is\u00a0<\/span>P. fraternus<\/i> ?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I think your plant is still unidentified. It has two clear features of\u00a0P. amarus<\/i>: male and female fls in same axils (most middle ones), and the leaves are much larger and broader, and one more things which I notice, your plant seems to be distinctly pubescent, and of diiferent colour (than my plant of\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>, or plant of \u2026). I think we will explore further before confirmation. It could be\u00a0P. rotundifolius<\/i>\u00a0(if cataphylls are present- note small appendages in my photograph showing upper view of\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>) or else\u00a0Maderaspatensis<\/i>\u00a0(if cataphylls are absent). To me \u2026 plant fits better with\u00a0P. maderaspatensis<\/i>, but I am not certain at present.\u00a0<\/span>Before we resolve let us look at the following things, if you can find fresh plants. (There is, however, one caution. The plants flowering these days (at least in\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>) have smaller leaves than ones I photographed in May-June):<\/span><\/div>\n
1. whether plant is herbaceous or woody<\/span><\/div>\n
2. presence or absence of pubescence<\/span><\/div>\n
3. colour of leaves (yours are light green, mine and Dinesh ji\u2019s dark green)<\/span><\/div>\n
4. Chape of leaves (that can be judged from photgraph)<\/span><\/div>\n
5. Size of leaves<\/span><\/div>\n
6. Whether middle portion has only female flowers, or mixed male and female<\/span><\/div>\n
7. Number of perianth (some call them sepals), 6 in two whorls or 5 in one whorl<\/span><\/div>\n
8. Tip of perianth pointed or rounded<\/span><\/div>\n
9. Size of perianth<\/span><\/div>\n
10. Size, shape and colour of fruits<\/span><\/div>\n
11. Number of lobes of disc<\/span><\/div>\n
12. Length of pedicel of female flower and fruit<\/span><\/div>\n
For me even \u2026 plant may turn out to be different. It has much more rigid leaves, even the branches appear rigid, leaves dark green. We may have to look at cataphylls to decide finally.<\/span><\/div>\n
Let us hope something interesting comes out
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According to Kew World Checklist ( <\/span>http:\/\/apps.kew.org\/wcsp\/home.do<\/span><\/a>\u00a0)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Phyllanthus amarus<\/i>\u00a0has the following synonyms:
\nPhyllanthus niruri<\/i>\u00a0var.\u00a0amarus<\/i>
\nPhyllanthus niruri<\/i>\u00a0var.\u00a0scabrellus<\/i>
\nPhyllanthus niruri<\/i>\u00a0var.\u00a0baronianus<\/i>
\namong others. Is supposed to be distributed (after introduction) in parts of India.Phyllanthus niruri\u2019s<\/i>\u00a0distribution in the Kew World Checklist does not mention India<\/p>\n
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I think I have not been able to explain things clearly. I never wrote that\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0grows in India.\u00a0P. ninuri<\/i>\u00a0was wrongly identified in Flora of British India, and Indian specimens were subsequently identified as\u00a0<\/span>P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0(Maheshwari, Flora of Delhi; Eflora of Pakistan; Useful plants of\u00a0India, etc) and hence the synonym as\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>\u00a0Hook.f. (non Linn.). It occurs in India and Pakistan- now naturalised elsewhere (also see BalaKrishnan- family Euphorbiaceae in India; Wealth of India). So no confusion about\u00a0P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0P. niruri<\/i>.
\n<\/span>Now coming to\u00a0<\/span>P. amarus<\/u><\/i>\u00a0is an american species now naturalised in Tropical Old World, including India, China and Japan. The specimens were\/are sometimes confused with\u00a0<\/span>P. niruri\/P. fraternus\/P. urinaria<\/i> but is easily <\/span>distinguished by smaller leaves, lateral veins usually 3 pairs, male and female flowers in same axil, perianth (sepals) 5 in number and disc 5-lobed. It has two subspecies in China ssp.\u00a0<\/span>amarus<\/i>\u00a0(annual plants, erect) and ssp.\u00a0<\/span>sanyaensis<\/i> (biennial or perennial, trailing or prostrate.
\n<\/span>Both\u00a0<\/span>P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>P. urinaria<\/i><\/span> have 6 perianth, leaves of former being glabrous, fruit glabrous, that of latter hispidulus along margin and fruit tuberculate.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Both\u00a0<\/span>P. fraternus<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>P. amarus<\/i> are illustrated in Eflora of Pakistan.
\n<\/span>I think there should be no confusion between\u00a0<\/span>P fraternus<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>P. amarus<\/i>. Both occur in India.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Phyllanthus debelis<\/em><\/p>\n

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Yes …!<\/p>\n

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This is\u00a0Phyllanthus airyshawii<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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References:
\n<\/span>POWO<\/a>\u00a0 Catalogue of Life<\/a> (Phyllanthus kozhikodianus Sivar. & Manilal) The Plant List Ver.1.1<\/a>\u00a0 WCSP<\/a> \u00a0IPNI<\/a> \u00a0Catalogue of Life<\/a>\u00a0 GBIF<\/a> (with type specimen) Flora of Peninsular India<\/a> \u00a0India Biodiversity Portal<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Encyclopedia of Life<\/a>\u00a0(specimen)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>IBIS Flora<\/a>\u00a0 Kerala plants<\/a>
\nFloristic Diversity of Assam: Study of Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a> By Bora, Yogendra Kumar (2006- details with keys)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phyllanthus airy-shawii Jean F.Brunel & J.P.Roux, Nordic J. Bot. 4: 470 1984 (syn: Phyllanthus debilis\u00a0Wall. ex Hook.f.); . Indian Subcontinent to N. Thailand: Assam, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, West Himalaya as per POWO; .. Erect herbs to 50 cm tall; stem angled; branches 6-14 cm long. Leaves 1-2 x…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[5104],"ht-kb-tag":[],"class_list":["post-1410957","ht_kb","type-ht_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","ht_kb_category-phyllanthus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/1410957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ht_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1410957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/1410957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1410957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-category?post=1410957"},{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efloraofindia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-tag?post=1410957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}