Flora of Bangladesh

Bokkon or   Frogfruit   ( phyla nodiflora , family: verbenaceae) is a creeper, 15-90 cm long. Stem is branched, nodes giving rise to aerial roots. The plant is is native to South America and the United States and has become naturalized in the warmer parts of the world. It grows on fallow land in Bangladesh.  Common names:  Bokkon, Frogfruit, Turkey tangle frogfruit, Capeweed Flowers are small, violet, whorled on the top of 2-7 cm long spike inflorescence. Leaves are small, sessile, obovate, front part serrate.  The plant bears flower in the nodule. For this reason, the species has been named nodiflora. In Sanskrit, it is called Vasir and Vasuka. A lar g e colony The plant is propagated by seeds, root division and cuttings.  Leaves are eaten as vegetables in rural areas to reduce pain and swelling of body. It is also used to destroy insects. Leaves are consumed as alternative to tea especially in the Philip...

Choto hurhuri or   Fringed spider flower   ( Cleome rutidosperma , family: Cleomaceae) is a small-sized annual herb with branches up to 1 m height. The plant is native to tropical Africa and has become naturalized in the tropical and sub-tropical world. It grows on fallow land as weed in Bangladesh. Common names: Choto hurhuri, Fringed spider flower, Purple cleome. The plant flowers round the year.  Flowers are pink, white, lilac, violet or blue, single, on leaf axil. Sepals 4, petals 4, stamens 6. Leaves are trifoliate, middle one long, light green. Leaflets are glabrous, 4-7 cm long and 2-4 cm wide. Fruit is capsule, 4-7 cm long, tubular, narrow at both ends, with an array of seeds.  Cleome rutidosperma keeps fruiting throughout the year, although most abundantly in the rainy season in Bangladesh. The seed contains alkaloid.  The leaves are collected from the wild and eaten as a cooked vegetable or added to soup. Propaga...

Holud hurhuri  or Asian spider flower ( Cleome viscosa , family: Cleomaceae) is a small-sized annual herb with branches, up to 1 mm in height. The herb is native to tropical Africa, tropical Australia, Malaysia and South Arabia. It has become introduced in South Asia.  Common names: Holud hurhuri,  Asian spider flower, Dog mustard, Yellow Spider Flower, Wild mustard, Sticky cleome. Leaves are palmately compound, leaflets 3-5, odorous, glandular, hairy, viscose, elliptical-ovate, 1-4 cm long. Flowers are pale yellow, on axillary raceme. Sepals 4, 3-6 mm long, hairy and glandular, petals 4 and 8-15 mm long, stamens numerous and 4-8 mm long.  The plant produces flower from January t o  June.  Fruit is 4-7 mm long, viscose and hairy; seed dark brown to black. Leaves are used in paratyphoid, dysentery, bronchitis, gonorrhea, ear-sore and  external application to wounds and ulcers. The seeds are anthelmintic and carminative...

Hatishura or Indian heliotrope ( Heliotropium indicum , family: Boraginaceae) is an annual to perennial erect, much-branched plant that can grow to a height of about 10-75 cm. The hairy stems are usually woody at the base. Heliotropium indicum is o riginally from South America . I t has become naturalized in the tropical and sub-tropical world. Flowers of  h eliotropium indicum bloom mainly in Au g ust to September .  It has  numerous  small white or  pale violet  flowers with a green calyx; five stamens borne on a corolla tube; a terminal style; and a four-lobed ovary.  It is considered as a weed of fields and pastures throughout the temperate world.  It  g r o ws abundant l y in fa l l o w  l ands in Bangladesh. Common names:  Hatishura, Indian heliotrope, Indiana turnsole, Erysipela plant. The brown or greyish-brown seeds are flattened, finely hairy and 5-8 mm long. The propagation of the plant ...

Bon shupari or F ishtail palm   ( Caryota urens , family: Arecaceae) is a straight trunked monocarpic palm tree attaining a height of 12 m. The plant is native to the hilly areas of South and Southeast Asia. In Bangladesh, it is found in the forest of Sylhet. It is cultivated as an ornamental and houseplant tree (when smaller) in Bangladesh, as well as the tropical and sub-tropical world.  Common names: Bon shupari, Chao-gota, Golshagu, Sago, Chaur, F ishtail palm, Jaggery palm The  one-seeded  fruit is a drupe, 1 cm, reddish or purple-colored.  From the axil of each giant leaf, about 3 m long hanging inflorescence is grown.  Flowers are  numerous, white in color, unisexual. The bipinnate and  triangular  shaped  leaves are deep green in color. The genus name of the species 'urens' is derived from the presence of stinging chemicals in the fruit.