Podophyllum
L.
Herbs, scapigerous; rootstock creeping, scaly at base. Leaves 2 (rarely 3), alternate,
at the apex of stem, peltate, palmately lobed. Flowers 1 -
3, on petioles of upper leaf,
large, pendulous, white, rose-cloured. Perianth parts 9 in 3 series, outer 3, sepaloid,
fugaceous, inner 6 petaloid. Stamens as many as or twice as many as the petals; anther
locules opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary solitary, simple, 1-carpeled, 1-locular; ovules
many on a broad ventral marginal placenta; stigma large, sessile, peltate. Fruit a berry,
fleshy, many-seeded, irregularly dehiscing. Seeds ovoid, embedded in pulp.
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (Himalayas), Nepal, Bhutan, China to E. Asia and one in N. America; ca 6 species, 2 in India.
Literature. CHATTERJEE, R. (1952) Indian Podophyllum. Econ. Bot. 6: 342 - 354, ff. 1 - 12. SELIVA-NOVA-GORODKOVA, E.A. (1975) Morphology and biology peculiarities of shoots of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle and P. peltatum L. Bot. Zhrun. 58a(2): 273 - 284. WALLIS, T. E. & S. GOLDBERG (1937) The history of Indian Podophyllum. Quart. J. Pharm. 10: 311 - 318.
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (Himalayas), Nepal, Bhutan, China to E. Asia and one in N. America; ca 6 species, 2 in India.
Literature. CHATTERJEE, R. (1952) Indian Podophyllum. Econ. Bot. 6: 342 - 354, ff. 1 - 12. SELIVA-NOVA-GORODKOVA, E.A. (1975) Morphology and biology peculiarities of shoots of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle and P. peltatum L. Bot. Zhrun. 58a(2): 273 - 284. WALLIS, T. E. & S. GOLDBERG (1937) The history of Indian Podophyllum. Quart. J. Pharm. 10: 311 - 318.
KEY TO THE SPECIES
| 1a. Scales of rootstock membranous; pedicels erect; flowers usually solitaty | 1. Podophyllum hexandrum |
| b. Scales of rootstock chartaceous; pedicels drooping; flowers 2 | 2. Podophyllum sikkimensis |
