Anthogonium gracile ( Slender Anthogonium) - Sikkim Flora

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae

Order:             Asparagales

Family:           Orchidaceae

Genus:            Anthogonium

Species:           A. gracile

Binomial name: Anthogonium gracile Wall. ex Lindl. (1836).

Other Names:  Slender Anthogonium, Anthogonium griffithii, Anthogonium corydaloides

Special feature: Anthogonium is a genus of orchids. At the present time (May 2014), only one species is recognized, i.e., Anthogonium gracile found in India, Assam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Guangxi, Guizhou, Tibet, and Yunnan.(Source: Wikipedia)

Slender Anthogonium is a deciduous, miniature to medium sized terrestrial orchid found in eastern Himalayas in semi-deciduous and deciduous dry lowland forests. The plants have ovoid pseudobulbs carrying 1-3, deciduous, stalked, narrowly lance-shaped leaves. The plant blooms in fall season on an erect, slender, very long (up to 45 cm), branched or simple, raceme with 10-12 flowers that do not open well. The flowers are pink-purple in color and a strongly remind of Corydalis.

Flower Identified by: Mita Aich

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Christmas kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) – Sikkim Flora

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae

Order:            Saxifragales

Family:           Crassulaceae

Genus:            Kalanchoe

Species:          K. blossfeldiana

Binomial name : Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poelln.

Other Names:  Flaming Katy, Christmas kalanchoe and Madagascar widow's-thrill

Special feature: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a herbaceous and commonly cultivated house plant of the genus Kalanchoe native to Madagascar.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a glabrous, bushy, evergreen and perennial succulent plant which (in 2–5 years) can reach an ultimate height of between 30–45 cm (12-18 in.) and an ultimate spread of between 10–50 cm (4-20 in.). K. blossfeldiana has a round habit and a moderate plant density; its growth rate has been described as 'slow'. The plant has green, shiny and textured glossy foliage which stays green all year round. The scallop-edged and ovate leaves are arranged in an opposite/subopposite fashion, are simple in type with crenate margins and an oblong shape. The arrangement of the veins in a leaf (venation) can be absent or very hard to see; the leaf blades are 5–10 cm (2-4 in.) long.

K. blossfeldiana flowers in late autumn to early winter; each flower has four petals and can be one of a wide variety of colours, from the dark reds and pinks to oranges, golds and whites. The ovary is tetracarpellary and apocarpous while stamens are four in number and are epipetalous. The inflorescences are born by peduncles which are higher up than the leaves and are terminal in nature. Parts of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana are poisonous if ingested.. (Source: Wikipedia)

Identified by: Debasis Chattopadhyay

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Northern Bedstraw (Galium boreale) - Sikkim Flora

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae

Order:            Gentianales

Family:           Rubiaceae

Genus:            Galium

Species:          G. boreale

Binomial name: Galium boreale L. 1753

Other Names:  Northern bedstraw

Special feature: G. boreale is a perennial plant that dies back to the ground every winter. Established plants spread by rhizomes, creating colonies of new plants around the original one

The squarish unbranched stems may grow between 20 centimetres (7.9 in) and 50 centimetres (20 in) tall. The leaves are attached directly to the stem in groups of four; spaced evenly like the spokes of a wheel. Leaves are longer than they are wide and have three prominent veins.

The small white flowers grow in fairly showy panicles from the top of the stem. Each individual flower has 4 pointed segments that fold back from a fused tube enclosing the stamens and pistil. The lightly perfumed flowers have no calyx. Seeds are formed in pairs in dark fruits that may be covered in short hairs.

Gallium boreale is edible, with a sweet smell and taste, and can be eaten as a wild salad green. (Source: Wikipedia)

Identified by: Debasis Chattopadhyay

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Chinese Lard Seed (Hodgsonia heteroclita) - Sikkim Flora

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae

Order:             Cucurbitales

Family:            Cucurbitaceae

Subfamily:      Cucurbitoideae

Tribe:              Sicyoeae

Genus:            Hodgsonia

Species:           H. Heteroclite

Binomial name: H. Heteroclite, Hook.f. & Thomson 1853

Other Names:  Chinese Lard Seed 

Special feature: Hodgsonia is a small genus of fruit-bearing vines in the family Cucurbitaceae.

Hodgsonia was named for Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1853 by British botanists Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Thomson, who examined the plant under Hodgson's hospitality in the Himalaya.

Although the flesh of Hodgsonia fruit is inedible and considered worthless, the large, oil-rich seeds are an important source of food.

The medicinal importance of Hodgsonia is mostly in its leaves. In Malaya and java, native physicians report several uses for the nose. The leaves may be dried and burnt, and the smoke inhaled, or the juice of young stems and leaves is squeezed into the nostrils to allay irritation from small insects. The leaves are also boiled and the resulting liquid taken internally, both for nose complaints and to reduce fevers.

In Nagaland, the fruit bulb is applied to bacterial infections in the feet. In Sarawak, Hodgsonia oil is used to anoint the bodies of mothers after childbirth; it also forms the base of embrocations carrying ashes from the leaves of coconut palm and Kaempferia. The oil is also used as a base for medicines in Eastern India. (Source : Wikipedia)