Nilgiri Balsam is an erect, almost stemless herb,
with bulbs small, spherical. Flowering stems are 1-2, about 20 cm long,
4-10-flowered, purplish; bracts broadly ovate or nearly round, concave,
about 6 mm long; flower-stalks about 1 cm long, longer in fruits,
reflexed tip slightly heart-shaped, about 4 mm long. Lip is about 1 cm
long, boat-shaped, subpointed; spur short, broadly blunt. Wings are
3-lobed, about 2 cm long, base of lower two-lobed, hairy within; distal
lobes broadly obovate, oblique, retuse, 5-6 mm long; middle lobe
narrower, obovate-oblong, tip rounded, about 8 mm long; basal lobes
further narrower, often smaller, oblong, blunt. Leaves are 1-2,
arising from root, nearly round, prominently heart-shaped at base,
lobes rounded, often overlapping, distantly apiculate-rounded toothed
along margins, 2.5-4 cm broad, fleshy; primary nerves 7-9, fan-shaped,
obscure above, distinct below; leaf-stalk 3-9 cm long, purplish.
Capsules are ellipsoid, 1-2 cm long; seeds minute, ovate-obllong,
compressed, hairless. Nilgiri Balsam is endemic to Nilgiri hills of
Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, found rarely, among grasses or on rocks at
2800 m altitude.
Flowering: September.
Identification credit: Shrishail Kulloli
Photographed in Nilgiri hills, Tamil Nadu.
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The flower labeled Nilgiri Balsam is ...