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P.attenuatum
| Botany: | Dioecious, scandent climber, leaves thin, papery when dry, glabrous, ovate to elliptic in the fruiting branches, ovate to broadly ovate to cordate in the runner shoot, about 11x5 cm; petiole grooved, leaf base attenuate, 7- ribbed from the base, the outer reaching only half to two third of the leaf, the others reaching almost to the tips. Spike thin, long, filiform, pendent; female 7-15 cm long, male 8-18 cm long, peduncle about 2 cm, glabrous. Bracts sessile, adnate to the rachis, obovate to elliptic, margins free, glabrous; stamens 3-4 dithecous, dehiscing longitudinally, style absent, ovary single, oblong, stigma 3-4 lobed, recurved, papillate, ovule single. Developing fruit oblong, mature ones round to oblog, 0.25 to 0.4 cm; turns from green to black on ripening, decidouos, taste bitter. The scars left by fallen fruits ciliate. The flowering season is May- June, fruit ripen in December- January. Off season flowering is very common. 2n =52. |
| Keyfeature: | Leaves 7 ribbed from base | | Distribution: | Forests of Eastern Ghats, Western ghats, Nilgiris and Tirunelvely in evergreen forests at low level about 300-1000 m MSL. This species is common in all the forests, except at higher elevations and in sea level forests. |
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