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Travancore Persian Violet
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Travancore Persian Violet
P Native Photo: Shahina Shanavas
Common name: Travancore Persian Violet
Botanical name: Exacum travancoricum    Family: Gentianaceae (Gentian family)
Synonyms: Exacum courtallense var. travancorica

Travancore Persian Violet is a perennial, erect, 5-20 cm tall, hairless herb, much branched; branches erect. Leaves are dense, fleshy, 1-1.5 x 0.6-0.8 cm, elliptic-ovate, blunt to round at tip, narrowed at base; margins thin; midrib prominent, channeled above; nerves obscure. Flower-stalks are 2-2.5 cm long, stout, winged. Calyx tube is about 4-5 mm long, dorsally winged, wings round; sepals 0.4-0.5 x 0.25-0.3 cm, ovate, tapering at tip. Flower tube 4-5 mm long; petals 0.8-1 x 0.5-0.6 cm, broadly ovate, round to pointed at tip. Anthers are linear, about 0.5 cm long, narrowed at tip; filaments 0.2 cm long. Ovary is about 0.5 cm, elongate; style curved at tip; stigma subcapitate. Capsule is oblong, 1-1.2 x 0.4-0.5 cm. Travancore Persian Violet is endemic to Southern Western Ghats. Flowering: September-October.

Identification credit: Shahina Shanavas Photographed in Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Waynad distt, Kerala.

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