Scarlet Kanara Balsam is a creeping or rising annual herb,
rooting at nodes; roots fibrous; branchlets opposite, arising from
basal nodes, 7-8 cm long; stems quadrangular, hairless. Leaves are
opposite, ovate or ovate-lanceshaped, blunt at tip, narrowed at base,
hairless, 4 x 7 mm, estipulate, stalked. Scarlet flowers are borne
singly, in leaf-axils, carried on flower-stalks about 7 mm long, finely
velvet-hairy. Lateral sepals are linear, elliptic, faintly serrulate,
nerves 3, median distinct, furunculate, furuncles parallel. Lip is
minute, yellow-tinged; spur arising slightly above base of lip.
Standard is ovate, more or less mucronate, hairless. Wings are ovate,
bilobed; basal lobes fin-shaped, transparent, honey guides prominent.
Filaments are subulate, unequal. Capsules are 3-5 mm long, hairless;
seeds shiny, black, smooth, spherical. Scarlet Kanara Balsam is endemic to
Karnataka. Flowering: August-September.
Identification credit: Shrishail Kulloli
Photographed in Kollur, Karnataka.
• Is this flower misidentified?
If yes,
Your name: Your email: Your comments
The flower labeled Scarlet Kanara Balsam is ...