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Hairy Osbeckia
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Hairy Osbeckia
P Native Photo: Chintan Bhatt
Common name: Hairy Osbeckia • Mizo: Builukhampa
Botanical name: Osbeckia crinita    Family: Melastomataceae (Melastome family)
Synonyms: Osbeckia stellata var. crinita, Osbeckia robusta

Hairy Osbeckia is a hairy shrub, up to 2.5 m tall; branches covered with spreading bulb based fuscous hairs. Flowers are about 2-2.5 cm across, purple or white, 4-merous in close corymbs or cymes; bracts ovate, hairy on back. Calyx is about 1 cm long; sepals subulate, star-shaped hairy. Petals are about 1 cm long, obovate; ovary star-shaped hairy. Leaves are simple, opposite, decussate; leaf-stalk about 5-10 mm long; blade about 7.5-11 x 2.3-3.4 cm, lanceshaped, somewhat heart-shaped at base, pointed to tapering at tip, entire, hairy on both surfaces with prostrate hairs; secondary nerves 5-7 pairs. Capsules are about 1.2 cm long, ovoid, narrowed to a cylindrical neck; neck of the fruit equaling or exceeding the ovary, hairless. Hairy Osbeckia is found in China, SE-Tibet, NE India (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim), Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam, at altitudes up to 1520-2290 m. Flowering: July-October.
Medicinal uses: Decoction of root is used for promoting appetite or assisting digestion. Decoction of dry leaves is used for toothache.

Identification credit: Rajdeo Singh Photographed in Mawsynram, Meghalaya.

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