Breynia retusa
(Dennst.) Alston in Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Peradeniya) 11: 204. 1929 &
in Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon 6(Suppl.): 261. 1931. Phyllanthus retusus Dennst., Schluss. Hort.
Malab. 1. Register: 15; 2. Register: 24; 3. Register: 31. 1818. P. patens Roxb., Fl. Ind., ed. Carey 3:
667. 1832. P. turbinatus K.D.König ex Roxb., l. c. 666. 1832 (non Sims., 1826). Melanthesa
obliqua Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5(2): 26, t. 1898. 1852. M. turbinata (K.D.König ex Roxb.)
Wight, Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. t. 1897. 1852 (as truncata). Melanthesopsis patens (Roxb.) Müll.Arg.
in DC., Prodr. 15(1): 437. 1866. Breynia patens (Roxb.) Rolfe in J. Bot. 11: 359. 1882; Hook.f., Fl.
Brit. India 5: 329. 1887. B. angustifolia Hook.f., l. c. 330. 1887.
Asm.: Chitki; Guj.: Kamboi; Hindi: Kambhi, Kalamahomad; Kan.: Areinelli; Kh.: Sohmatiar-
syurang; Kon.: Haddin; Lep.: Ikti; Mal.: Pavalapulah, Peruniruri; Mar.: Kagli,
Dolfodi; Or.: Jajan; Tam.: Periseelai; Tel.: Devadai, Dawadaree.
Shrubs (often bushy), 0.5 - 4 m high, entirely glabrous. Leaves ovate, oblong, elliptic to suborbicular, acute, obtuse to rounded at base, often slightly reflexed along margins, obtuse, rounded, emarginate or retuse at apex, 1 - 4 x 0.5 - 2.5 cm, membranous to chartaceous, often glaucescent beneath; lateral nerves 3 - 6 pairs; petioles 1 - 2 mm long; stipules triangularacuminate, up to 2 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 7 (- 11) mm long, calyx 1.5 - 5 x 1.5 - 3 mm; anthers 0.6 - 2 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels 1.5 - 5 mm long; calyx initially obconic, cupular or often campanulate, 1 - 4 x 3.5 - 6 mm, finally flattened and up to 8 mm in diam.; lobes flabellate, almost free, 1 - 3 x 1.5 - 4 mm, accrescent; ovary obconic, globose or turbinate, 1 - 2 mm in diam., excavate; styles 1 - 2 mm long, connate at base into a column (ca 1 mm long), bifid above. Fruits depressed, subglobose, often shallowly lobed, 4 - 5 x 8 - 10 mm; pedicels 4 - 6 (-15) mm long; persistent calyx patelliform, 9 - 12 mm across.
Fl. & Fr. April - Sept.
Distrib. India: Hill forests, sholas, subtropical forests, edges of primary forests, mixed deciduous forests, up to 1500 m altitude. Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, S.W. China, Indo-China, Thailand and Malaysia.
Uses. The sap has medicinal use in the treatment of eye diseases. The herbal drug, Leptuden, consisting of the extracts of Leptadenia reticulata Wight & Arn. and B. retusa is used as a galactagogue (Wealth of India 2: 294. 1988).
Notes. Chromosome number: 2n = 52 (Mehra & Hans, Taxon 18: 310 - 315. 1969).
Shrubs (often bushy), 0.5 - 4 m high, entirely glabrous. Leaves ovate, oblong, elliptic to suborbicular, acute, obtuse to rounded at base, often slightly reflexed along margins, obtuse, rounded, emarginate or retuse at apex, 1 - 4 x 0.5 - 2.5 cm, membranous to chartaceous, often glaucescent beneath; lateral nerves 3 - 6 pairs; petioles 1 - 2 mm long; stipules triangularacuminate, up to 2 mm long. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 7 (- 11) mm long, calyx 1.5 - 5 x 1.5 - 3 mm; anthers 0.6 - 2 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels 1.5 - 5 mm long; calyx initially obconic, cupular or often campanulate, 1 - 4 x 3.5 - 6 mm, finally flattened and up to 8 mm in diam.; lobes flabellate, almost free, 1 - 3 x 1.5 - 4 mm, accrescent; ovary obconic, globose or turbinate, 1 - 2 mm in diam., excavate; styles 1 - 2 mm long, connate at base into a column (ca 1 mm long), bifid above. Fruits depressed, subglobose, often shallowly lobed, 4 - 5 x 8 - 10 mm; pedicels 4 - 6 (-15) mm long; persistent calyx patelliform, 9 - 12 mm across.
Fl. & Fr. April - Sept.
Distrib. India: Hill forests, sholas, subtropical forests, edges of primary forests, mixed deciduous forests, up to 1500 m altitude. Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, S.W. China, Indo-China, Thailand and Malaysia.
Uses. The sap has medicinal use in the treatment of eye diseases. The herbal drug, Leptuden, consisting of the extracts of Leptadenia reticulata Wight & Arn. and B. retusa is used as a galactagogue (Wealth of India 2: 294. 1988).
Notes. Chromosome number: 2n = 52 (Mehra & Hans, Taxon 18: 310 - 315. 1969).
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