Dendrophthoe falcata
(L.f.) Blume in Schult.f., Syst. Veg. 7: 1730. 1830. Loranthus
falcatus L.f., Sp. Pl. Suppl. 211. 1781. L. longiflorus Desr. in Lam., Encycl. 3: 598. 1789; Hook.f.,
Fl. Brit. India 5: 214. 1886. Dendrophthoe longiflora Tiegh. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 42: 85 & 252.
1895.
Beng.: Amguruj, Bajrangi; Garo: Tuthekmi; Guj.: Vando; Hindi: Bandha; Kan.:
Bandanika; Mal.: Ilti, Ithi, Ithikanni, Ithyalkanni, Utir; Mar.: Vanda; Punj.: Banda; Sans.:
Vanda; Tam.: Plavithil, Pulluruvi; Tel.: Badanika, Bajinika.
Shrubs, up to 2 m tall. Leaves alternate and opposite, linear-oblong to elliptic-oblong, elliptic-ovate or falcate, cordate-amplexicaule or cuneate at base, obtuse, subacute or sometimes rounded at apex, undulate along margins, 4 - 16 x (1.5 -) 2.5 - 9 cm, coriaceous, glabrous; lateral nerves 3 - 6 pairs; petioles 1 - 12 mm long or absent. Inflorescences axillary or supra-axillary, sometimes ramiflorous, centrifugal pseudoracemose, 2 - 8 cm long; peduncle solitary or few together, 10 - 25 (- 50)-flowered, 1 - 5 cm long; flower buds spathulate, white to pink or bright red with green clavate upper portion. Flowers secund, zygomorphic, 5.5 - 7 cm long, yellow-scarlet; pedicels 4 - 5 mm long; bracts broadly ovate, 1.5 - 2 x 0.8 - 1 mm. Calyculus-tube subentire to denticulate, ca 1.2 cm long. Petals 5, united, 2.5 - 5 cm long, yellow-scarlet at base, green at apex; tube terete and ca 2 mm thick at base, ventricose and up to 4 mm across at middle, split more deeply on one side; lobes 5, linear-elliptic, shorter than tube, unilaterally reflexed, 9 - 12 mm long, ca 1 mm wide, orange or red outside and greenish yellow inside. Stamens 5; filaments adnate to corolla, bright red; anthers oblong or linear, 3 - 5 mm long, basifixed, Ovary oblong, 3 - 5 mm long; style exserted, green; stigma capitate, light reddish brown or dark red. Fruits ellipsoid-ovoid to oblong, with persistent apical calyculus-tube, 10 - 17 x 4 - 6 mm, smooth, glabrous, bright pink.
Distrib. India: Widespread throughout India, including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, up to 2500 m altitude. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indo-china, Thailand, Malesia to tropical Australia.
Uses. Bark astringent, narcotic, used for wounds and menstrual troubles and also as a remedy for consumption, asthma and as a substitute for betel-nut; ashes of bark used to wash clothes; decoction given in swellings and juice poured in ears to reduce ear-aches. Wood is useful in tannery.
Notes. Wood with numerous pores, diffuse porous; pores very small; pittings scalariform; fibres thick-walled, narrow-lumened.
Pollen 3-lobed; P - 24 (26.6) 33 ¼ ¼ μm; E - 50 (59.9) 61 μm; P/E - 0.47 μm; ex. 2 μm; col. 1 μm (Vasanthy, Inst. Franc. Pondicherry 1976).
Chromosome number: n = 9 (Kumar & Abraham, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 15 B: 253. 1942).
Shrubs, up to 2 m tall. Leaves alternate and opposite, linear-oblong to elliptic-oblong, elliptic-ovate or falcate, cordate-amplexicaule or cuneate at base, obtuse, subacute or sometimes rounded at apex, undulate along margins, 4 - 16 x (1.5 -) 2.5 - 9 cm, coriaceous, glabrous; lateral nerves 3 - 6 pairs; petioles 1 - 12 mm long or absent. Inflorescences axillary or supra-axillary, sometimes ramiflorous, centrifugal pseudoracemose, 2 - 8 cm long; peduncle solitary or few together, 10 - 25 (- 50)-flowered, 1 - 5 cm long; flower buds spathulate, white to pink or bright red with green clavate upper portion. Flowers secund, zygomorphic, 5.5 - 7 cm long, yellow-scarlet; pedicels 4 - 5 mm long; bracts broadly ovate, 1.5 - 2 x 0.8 - 1 mm. Calyculus-tube subentire to denticulate, ca 1.2 cm long. Petals 5, united, 2.5 - 5 cm long, yellow-scarlet at base, green at apex; tube terete and ca 2 mm thick at base, ventricose and up to 4 mm across at middle, split more deeply on one side; lobes 5, linear-elliptic, shorter than tube, unilaterally reflexed, 9 - 12 mm long, ca 1 mm wide, orange or red outside and greenish yellow inside. Stamens 5; filaments adnate to corolla, bright red; anthers oblong or linear, 3 - 5 mm long, basifixed, Ovary oblong, 3 - 5 mm long; style exserted, green; stigma capitate, light reddish brown or dark red. Fruits ellipsoid-ovoid to oblong, with persistent apical calyculus-tube, 10 - 17 x 4 - 6 mm, smooth, glabrous, bright pink.
Distrib. India: Widespread throughout India, including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, up to 2500 m altitude. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indo-china, Thailand, Malesia to tropical Australia.
Uses. Bark astringent, narcotic, used for wounds and menstrual troubles and also as a remedy for consumption, asthma and as a substitute for betel-nut; ashes of bark used to wash clothes; decoction given in swellings and juice poured in ears to reduce ear-aches. Wood is useful in tannery.
Notes. Wood with numerous pores, diffuse porous; pores very small; pittings scalariform; fibres thick-walled, narrow-lumened.
Pollen 3-lobed; P - 24 (26.6) 33 ¼ ¼ μm; E - 50 (59.9) 61 μm; P/E - 0.47 μm; ex. 2 μm; col. 1 μm (Vasanthy, Inst. Franc. Pondicherry 1976).
Chromosome number: n = 9 (Kumar & Abraham, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 15 B: 253. 1942).
KEY TO THE VARIETIES
| 1a. Leaves linear, up to 2.5 cm wide | 1.3. falcata |
| b. Leaves broader, more than 2.5 cm wide | 2 |
| 2a. Pseudocarps ovoid, hard and rugose | 1.2. coccinea |
| b. Pseudocarps oblong and smooth | 3 |
| 3a. Leaves sessile or subsessile, amplexicaule at base; flowers glabrous throughout | 1.1. amplexifolia |
| b. Leaves petiolate, not amplexicaule at base; flowers covered with malpighian hairs when young | 1.4. pubescens |
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