Flora of Bangladesh

Agmukhi or Madras pea pumpkin ( Mukia maderaspatana , family: Cucurbitaceae) is an annual much-branched climber with angular shoots and tendrils, attaining a length of 3-4 m. There are spine-looking hairs all over its body. It is found in village thickets and fallow lands scatteredly all over Bangladesh. Sometimes it is found grabbing spiny herbs or shrubs to survive with hostile condition properly. It is also found in some countries of South and Southeast Asia also. Other names:   Bilari, Agamukhi (Bang); Rough bryoni (Eng).   Leaves are variable; mutilobed, usualy 3-5 lobed, can be found ovate and cordate at base, 5-9 cm long, both sides rough, dented irregularly, long-petioled, alternate. Flowers are tiny, 1 cm across, bright yellow, calyx tubular, petals 5, sepals 5, stamens 3. Flowering occurs in August-December. Fruits are hairy too. Green pea-sized fruits are stripped with two sahdes of green or green when raw and vivid red when mature. Flowers and fruits c...

Pani najok or Water mimosa ( Neptunia oleracea ) is a creeping perennial aquatic herb, rooting at the nodes with spongy and slender stems, attaining a length of 2-3 m. The sensitive plant without prickles is found near or in water bodies, ditches, ponds and swamps all over Bangladesh sporadically. There are some doubts about the place of its origin. However, it has spread to both tropics. Other names: Pani lajok, Pani lojuk, Pani lojjaboti (Bang); Sensitive neptunia (Eng). Leaves are sensitive as other members of Mimosa, like Sensitive plant ( Mimosa pudica ). These are pinnately compound, petioled; leaflets 8-36, tiny, opposite.   Flowers are bright yellow, in pedunculated spike inflorescence, consisting of 30-50 flowers. Upper flowers are bisexual and lower flowers sterile. Flowering occurs at the end of rainy season. Fruits are pods, flat, 2-3 cm long, dehiscent; seeds 4-8, obovoid, compressed. It is propagated by seeds and vegetative parts. The plant is cultivated and c...

Jhunjhuni or Smooth crotalaria ( Crotalaria pallida , family: Fabaceae) is an annual or perennial erect herb with trifoliate leaves, attaining a height up to 2 m. Young branches are quadrangular, sometimes reddish, pubescent. When the dried fruits are shaken that make rattling sound. The Bangla name of the plant Jhunjhuni is derived from this special feature. It is found in croplands, grasslands, along roadsides and village thickets in Bangladesh. It is also found throughout the tropics. Other names: Jhonjhoni, Jhumjhumi, Jhunjhuna (Bang); Striped rattlepod, Ding ding (Eng). Leaves are trifoliate, light green; leaflets membranous, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, 3-7 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, upper part glabrous, lower puberulous, apex rounded or retuse. 20-30 flowers are in terminal or axillary inflorescence, erect, up to 30 cm long. Flowers are bright yellow with claw and reddish-brown lines along the veins on the outer sides. Flowering occurs in summer and it continues to late autumn. ...

Kularuki or Pouzolzia ( Pouzolzia zeylanica , family: Urticaceae) is a soft but erect herb with soft hairs, upright branches and creeping basal part, attaining a height of 30-40 cm. Stem is multiangled and soft green, sometimes reddish. It is found almost everywhere in Bangladesh. It can be seen in village thickets, waterside area, crop fields and fallow lands. Outside of the country the perennial plant is found in Southeast Asia to Australia. It has been introduced in Central America nowadays.   Other name: Graceful Pouzolz's Bush. Leaves are short-petioled, upper part alternate, but opposite in lower part; broadly ovate or elliptic ovate, 1-5 cm long, entire with acute apex, base rounded or cordate. Flowers are monoecieous, in axillary globose clusters, greenish white, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Flowering occurs in the rainy season. Fruit an achene, ovoid or elliptic, 2 mm long, shinning black. The plant is propagated by seeds and cuttings.  As an medicinal plan...

Kuchai or Konoklota ( Caesalpinia enneaphylla , family: Caesalpiniaceae) is a woody scandent shrub or bushy climber with profuse branches and bipinnate leaves. Branches are scattered, dark browish and filled with neumerous dots and stout and hook-like spines. In Bangladesh it is found beside the streams and on hill slopes in Sylhet, Chattogram and Chattogram Hill Tracts. It is also found in Indian subcontinent and China as well as South and Southeast Asia.  Leaves are beautiful to look at; compound, bipinnate, rachis 20-30 cm long, pinnae 8-12 pairs, opposite; leaflets are tiny, elliptic-oblong, 8-10 pairs, opposite, 1.5-2.5 cm long. The fragrant flowers are bright yellow, in terminal or auxillary panicles, bloom periodically from bottom to top, up to 30 cm long. Flowers 1.5-3 cm long; petals 2-lobed, sepals 5, stamens 10. Flowering occurs from August to October. Fruit is a legume, elliptic-oblong, 7-11 cm long and 2-4 cm wide. Seeds 4-6. Young pods are red-colored. The plant is ...