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P.hymenophyllum
| Botany: | A scandent, slender climber, dioecious, having prominently pubescent branchlets and leaves, hairs more pronounced on the young shoots. Leaves thin, dried ones chartaceous, sometimes thinly coriaceous; shape and size much variable, ovate to obovate -elliptic, or elliptic- lanceolate; the leaves on the emerging juvenile shoot small, cordate or semi cordate.Leaves on the laeral shoots vary in size, around 9x 3.6 cm on an average, base acute or obtuse; cordate or semi cordate in the case of leaves on the juvenile shoots; tip accuminate; 2-3 pairs of lateral ribs arising from the base or near to it; both sides pubescent, petiole grooved, pubescent. Spikes thin, filiform, male spike 5- 13 cm long, female spike 6-16 cm long, peduncle pubescent, bracts sessile, adnate to the rachis, obovate to elliptic; stamens three, anther dithecous; style absent, ovary oval, stigma 3-4 lobed, recurved and papillate. Fruits oval, Mature one often becomes spherical, dark green, on ripening turns black; taste bitter. The scars left by fallen fruit ciliate. |
| Keyfeature: | Leaves membraneous | | Distribution: | Distributed through evergreen forests of Western ghat, Karnataka & Nilgiris at 500-1700 m MSL. |
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