Flora of Bangladesh

Jhajhidam  or  Bladderwort  ( Utricularia flexuosa , family: Lentibulariaceae) is a submerged and rootless herb with slender stem and branches. The aquatic plant is carnivorous It is piled down slightly below the water. Other names: Pata jhajhi, Shial-lejjur. Leaves are composite, slender or linear, light green in color. Each node of the leaf has small bladder which catch the insects. Flowering occurs in the rainy season to late autumn. At this time the flowers are seen standing on the water. Each upright stalk contains 1-7 flowers, yellow-colored, showy, petioled, petals 2, upper lip is smaller than the lower one. Stamens 2-4, bulbed. Fruits are round, capsule. The propagation of the water weed is caused by seeds and stem.  The water weed is found in the beel-jhil, canal and waterlogged areas in Bangladesh. The plant is also known as Pani saibol.

Kulekhara or Talmakhna ( Hygrophila auriculata , family: Acanthaceae) is a stout and erect herb with straight and undivided stem. The spiny plant is very popular as a medicinal plant in Bangladesh as well as the Indian subcontinent. Other names: Kulekkha, Kuiley-rekha,  Kanta kalika, Shoolmordon. Leaves are lanceolate, subsessile, acute at both ends with long whitish hairs, dense with straight and stout thorns that grow from each node. Outer leaves are longer than the inner ones. Both leaves and thorns remain in upward direction.   Flowers in axillary whorls. They are bright violet or bluish purple and red, sometimes whitish with soft and minor hair, corolla 2-lipped. Flower blooms in the winter. Fruit a capsule, 4-8-seeded. Seeds are ovoid (not in the pic). The body of the plant contains alkaloids, phytosterols, stigmasterol, lupeol and essential oils. Its seeds contain oil, enzymes and sterols. The plant is cooling and diuretic in cases of h

Chondona  or Chandana ( Macaranga peltata , family: Euphorbiaceae) is an evergreen tree with profuse branches and nice crown. The tree usually gets 12 m height. Young parts of the tree are hairy but smooth. Its leaves are very spectacular. In Bangladesh the plant is planted on the roadside areas and parks and gardens for this reason.  Leaves are big, dark green, broadly ovate to orbicular, apex pointed, extended slightly, 15-20 cm long and 12-18 cm wide, alternate, smooth upside, glandular beneath. Veins and midribs are palmately arranged on blade. Petiole is very long and it is strangely connected to the lower part of the blade. Flowers are small, creamy white on raceme inflorescence. Male flowers (in the pic) grow from the axil of large bracts.  Fruit is capsule, round, orange-red. Propagation of the plant is caused by seeds. Flowers appear in March-April and fruit in December-January.  By the by, the species name 'peltata' comes from

Pakur  or Golden rumph's   fig ( Ficus rumphii , family: Moraceae) is a large and beautiful tree from Fig family with spreading crown. The height and the shape of the tree is very much like its relatives-- Ashoth  and Bot . Bark is gray and smooth. Wood is also gray-colored. The deciduous tree with aerial prop roots is grown on the roadside areas, in parks and the premises of temple and by village huts as shadow tree. Leaves are dark green, entire, thin, ovate-oblong or slightly heart-shaped, 8-10 cm long and 5-7 cm wide, almost like the leaves of Ashoth, but have not any elongated tail-like part at the tip and also not broad and long than that; petioles 5-7 cm long. The leaves and young shoots contain milky latex.  Flowers remain inside fruit like all other figs in this family. Fruits called figs grow in cluster on branches. Figs are round. At the end of rainy season, the fruit becomes ripe. The worship of Nishkandi Deo and a village fair have been organized f

Sultanchapa, Punnag or  Alexandrian laurel ball tree (C alophyllum inophyllum , family: Clusiaceae) is a medium-sized evergreen tree with profuse branches, attaining a height of about 12 m. The good-looking plant is seen in the coastal areas and Sundarban in Bangladesh. Its common English name is Alexandrian laurel ball tree. Other names: Konyal, Katth-chompa. Leaves are smooth, shiny, leathery, dark green, 8-16 cm long, 6-10 cm wide, elliptic, tip rounded or obcordate (cordate at the tip); veins parallel, numerous, hardly visible.  Flowers are white, showy, fragrant, borne on axillary raceme (10-15 cm long), with many yellow stamens at centre.  It blooms in the rainy season.   The fruit is a drupe, round-shaped, 3-4 cm in diameter, yellow when ripe.  Propagation of the slow growing plant is caused by seeds and cuttings. It is grown in parks and gardens as an ornamental plant.  Different parts of he plant are used in tumour, arthritis

Relandi or Cinderella weed (S ynedrella nodiflora , family: Compositae) is an annual erect herb about 1 m in height with dichotomous branching. The entire plant is hairy. The plant grows everywhere, especially in damp fallow land in Bangladesh as weed.  Leaves are hairy, simple, green, petioled, opposite, ovate-lanceolate or elliptical-ovate, 6-12 cm long and 4-5 cm wide, serrate, veins 3 running from bottom to apex. The upper leaves are smaller. Flowers are small, sessile, oblong, bright yellow, stalkless, borne on lateral or terminal head  inflorescence. The plant is propagated by seeds. The fruits of Cinderella. The people of Chittagong consume its leaves as vegetables. Its original home is tropical America . 

Cha or Tea  ( camellia sinensis , family: theaceae)   is a one of the most cash crops in Bangladesh. It is a bushy shrub or small tree with profuse branches. A kind of energetic and tasty drink is prepared from its young leaves and it is one of the most popular hot drinks of the world.  In its natural habitat it can get a height of 3-4 m. For the purpose of collection of young leaves it is kept at a height of 1-2 meters by pruning. East Asia is the original home of the plant. The drink is so popular that nowadays it is cultivated throughout the tropical or subtropical world. Leaves are dark green, 3-14 cm long, pale beneath, leathery, ovate, edge serrated.  Flowers are whitish, sweet-scented. Petals 4 and arranged in several layers, cluster of yellow-colored stamens in the middle of flower. Flower blooms in late autumn (November-December). The fruit is almost round. Propagation of the plant is caused by cutting and seed. Its a long-lived plant. Acco