Leucas deodikarii - Maharashtra Leucas

Maharashtra Leucas is a perennial erect to rising up herb or small undershrub, 1/5-1 m high. The name honors Dr G.B. Deodikar, Director, Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Sciences, Poona. Flowers are borne in many-flowered, false-whorl of congested cymes, in leaf-axils. Flower-cluster-stalk is up to 7 mm long; flowers stalkless or shortly stalked; bracts linear to inverted-lanceshaped. 3-12 x 1-2 mm with-bristly hairs along the margins and mid-rib. Sepal-cup is 0.9-1.4 cm long, bell-shaped and straight, about 10-ribbed, bristly mostly along the ribs, almost hairless and netveined within; teeth-10 unequal 1.5-7 mm long, triangular, long-pointed. Flowers are white, two-lipped, about 1.6 cm long, tube about 1 cm long. Upper lip is about 5 mm long, concave, densely bearded with quite stiff hairs. Lower lip is about 9 x 6 mm, 3-lobed, middle lobe larger, notched, hairless above, hairy beneath. Stem is 2-5 mm thick, bluntly four-edged, clothed with greyish deflexed bristly hairs. Leaves are membranous, opposite, in opposite, perpendicular pairs, 5-16 x 3-7.5 cm including leaf-stalk, leaf-stalk 0.5-2 cm long; blade broadly ovate or ovate-lanceshaped with rounded-flat and somewhat narrow base and pointed tip, shallowly or deeply rounded toothed, finely bristly above and beneath. Stamens are 4 with orange-red anthers. Maharashtra Leucas is endemic to Maharashtra.