Sauropus quadrangularis
(Willd.) Müll.Arg. in Linnaea 32: 73. 1863 & in DC., Prodr.
15(2): 242. 1866; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 335. 1887; Haines, Bot. Bihar Orissa 2: 135. 1921;
Gamble, Fl. Madras 2(7): 1303. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 911. 1957); Chakrab. & M.Gangop. in J. Econ.
Taxon. Bot. 20: 534, f. 9 A - D. 1996; Philcox in Dassan. & Clayton, Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 13: 107.
1999. Phyllanthus quadrangularis Willd., Sp. Pl. ed. 4, 4: 585. 1805. Ceratogynum rhamnoides
Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5: 26, t. 1900. 1852. Sauropus ceratogynum Baill. [Etude Euphorb.
635. 1858, nom. subnud.] ex Müll.Arg., l. c. 243. 1866, p. p. Phyllanthus rhamnoides sensu
Roxb., Fl. Ind., ed. Carey 3: 663. 1832 (non Willd., 1805; nec Sauropus rhamnoides Blume, 1825).
Tel.: Tellavusirika.
Woody herbs or shrubs, 0.2 - 2 m high, entirely glabrous; branches angled or sometimes semiterete; leaf-bearing branchlets 5 - 16 cm long, often puberulous when young. Leaves ovate, elliptic, oblong to suborbicular or orbicular-obovate, acute, obtuse or rounded at base, acute, obtuse to rounded and usually mucronulate at apex, 7 - 40 x 4 - 27 mm, membranous to thinly chartaceous; lateral nerves 3 - 5 pairs; petioles 1 - 2 mm long; stipules linear-lanceolate, 1 – 2 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 10 mm long; calyx flat, star-shaped, 1.5 - 4 mm in diam., thin; segments linear, linear-oblong or narrowly triangular, acute, attenuate or often narrowed and rounded at apex, 0.5 - 1.5 x ca 0.4 mm; anthers orbicular, ca 0.3 mm in diam., horizontal or sometimes ascending. Female flowers: pedicels 1 - 3 mm long; calyx initially cupular, finally flattened, 2.5 - 5 mm in diam.; segments free, narrowly oblong-obovate or orbicular to flabellate, rounded-emarginate or acute at apex, 1 - 2 x 0.4 - 2 mm; ovary turbinate, ca 0.6 x 1 mm; styles 1 - 1.5 mm long, bifid up to base, erect or horizontal. Fruits somewhat depressed or subglobose, 4 - 5 x 6 - 8 mm, thin-walled; pedicels up to 5 mm long; calyx up to 7 (- 12) mm in diam.; segments up to 3 (- 5) x 3.5 (- 7) mm.
Fl. & Fr. May - Sept.
Distrib. India: Edges of evergreen, semideciduous or deciduous forests, often on rocky lateritic slopes, up to 600 m altitude, common. Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
Sri Lanka.
Uses. Dried leaves when smoked reduce tonsillitis.
Woody herbs or shrubs, 0.2 - 2 m high, entirely glabrous; branches angled or sometimes semiterete; leaf-bearing branchlets 5 - 16 cm long, often puberulous when young. Leaves ovate, elliptic, oblong to suborbicular or orbicular-obovate, acute, obtuse or rounded at base, acute, obtuse to rounded and usually mucronulate at apex, 7 - 40 x 4 - 27 mm, membranous to thinly chartaceous; lateral nerves 3 - 5 pairs; petioles 1 - 2 mm long; stipules linear-lanceolate, 1 – 2 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 10 mm long; calyx flat, star-shaped, 1.5 - 4 mm in diam., thin; segments linear, linear-oblong or narrowly triangular, acute, attenuate or often narrowed and rounded at apex, 0.5 - 1.5 x ca 0.4 mm; anthers orbicular, ca 0.3 mm in diam., horizontal or sometimes ascending. Female flowers: pedicels 1 - 3 mm long; calyx initially cupular, finally flattened, 2.5 - 5 mm in diam.; segments free, narrowly oblong-obovate or orbicular to flabellate, rounded-emarginate or acute at apex, 1 - 2 x 0.4 - 2 mm; ovary turbinate, ca 0.6 x 1 mm; styles 1 - 1.5 mm long, bifid up to base, erect or horizontal. Fruits somewhat depressed or subglobose, 4 - 5 x 6 - 8 mm, thin-walled; pedicels up to 5 mm long; calyx up to 7 (- 12) mm in diam.; segments up to 3 (- 5) x 3.5 (- 7) mm.
Fl. & Fr. May - Sept.
Distrib. India: Edges of evergreen, semideciduous or deciduous forests, often on rocky lateritic slopes, up to 600 m altitude, common. Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
Sri Lanka.
Uses. Dried leaves when smoked reduce tonsillitis.
