
Heracleum
candoJleanum
(Wight & Am.) Gamble
H. rigens
Wall. ex DC. var. candolleanum (Wight &
Am.) C.B. Clarke
APIACEAE
(Umbelliferae)
Vernacular name:
Not known
Threat
status:
Vulnerable (A 1 c) - Globally
Habit:
Perennial
herbs
Habitat:
Exposed
montane grassland slopes
.Altitude:
1500 -
2100 m
Distribution: Endemic
to Western
Ghats in southern India. National: Recorded in the
grasslands of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka, recorded only
in Bababudan hills (Chickmagalur).
Description:
A
perennial stout hairy herb, up to 2 m tall, with woody reddish
brown rootstock. Stems many, radiating from the rootstock, with
many vertical parallel lines. Leaves are alternately arranged
and are of two different types. The lower leaves
two times pinnate, egg-shaped in outline, about 35 x 25 cm;
upper leaves gradually becoming smaller towards the
apex, 3-5 or often irregularly lobed, egg-shaped to oblong,
about 10 x 5 cm, base clasping the stem, apex acute or
acuminate, margin shallowly or deeply toothed with saw-like
teeth, pubescent; leaf stalks up to 15 cm long, with a broad
sheath at base.
Flowers
polygamous, arranged in multi-branched compound umbels, yellow,
minute, about 1.5 mm across, faintly fragrant. Fruits
are called as mericarps (one-seeded unit of a compound
fruit), elliptic to inverted egg-shaped, about 1 x 0.8 cm,
dorsally compressed and laterally winged, with prominent 3-ribs,
hairless.
Phenology: Flowering
& Fruiting:
April to
October
Medicinal uses:
In Kerala
the tubers are reportedly used by Folk practitioners. The fruits
and seeds of its related species, H. rigens, are
reportedly
used in treating abdominal pain, cardiac diseases,
(.
constipation, cough, diarrhoea, gastritis, headache,
hyperacidity,
indigestion and wounds.
Trade
information:
Seeds are
locally traded
Mode of
propagation:
By root
tubers and seeds
Special
characters:
Very large
herbs with radiating branches, dissected foliage becoming yellow
on aging, wide spreading flat compound umbels, minute white
flowers and winged seeds are important field characters.