Flora of Bangladesh

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 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 prop...

Shada kolmi or  Hogvine ( Camonea umbellata , family : Convolvulaceae) is a extended twiner or trailer with milky latex and beautiful foliage. In Bangladesh, the woody vine is found in the districts of Dhaka, Gazipur, Rangamati, cox's Bazar, Jamalpur and Sylhet. It can be seen occupying a vast of area in waterside area, ditches and fallow lands or hanging on a tree in a huge shape. Outside the country it can be found from Indian subcontinent to Andaman Islands, and in Malaysia and Indo-China area. Other names: Bon kolmi, Din kolmi, Chata kolmi (Bang); Yellow merremia, Yellow wood rose (Eng). There is some variation in the size and shape of the leaves. These are quite different from those of other members of the Morning glory family. Its leaves are beutiful to look at. These are thin, almost glabrous, long-petioled; ovate, lanceolate or oblong, 4-7 cm long and 5-7 cm wide, base usually cordate but can be be found rounded sometimes, tip usually acuminate. Flowering occurs in the sp...

Rudro polash or African tulip ( Spathodea campanulata , family: Bignoniaceae) is a large or medium-sized tree with upright branches and bushy canopy, attaining a height of 20-30 m. The ornamental tree is introduced in Bangladesh and is very popular to passionate gardeners and naturalists. It is found in parks, botanical gardens and beside roads in the country. The tree is originated in tropical Africa.  Other names: Tulip gach (Bang), Scarlet bell tree (Eng).  Leaves are compound, imparipinnate (having single leaflet at the top) 9-19 in a pinnae, leaflets ovate-oblong, short-petioled, 10-16 cm long, opposite, edge uneven, tip pointed. Although many leaves of the semi-deciduous tree fall in winter, it does not become completely bald. New leaves come in spring, with lots of vibrant and spectacular flowers.  It produces orange or reddish flowers at the top of the terminal branches. Flowers are big, wide, campanulate, spathaceous, 18-20 cm long, beaked, usually upright, bis...

Charchara or Erect flemingia ( Flemingia stricta , family: Fabaceae) is an tall, woody shrub with trifoliate leaves, attaining a height of 3-4 m. The younger parts of the plant are hairy and somewhat triangular. The much branching shrub is found in the shady and damp places of plains and hilly areas of central part and Chattogram and Chattogram Hill Tracts and greater Sylhet in Bangladesh. Outside the country, it will be seen in India, Myanmar, Bhutan, China as well as some countries of Southeast Asia. Other names: Sai kheu (Marma) Leaves are trifoliate, large, oblong-lanceolae, opposite, glabrous or slightly hairy, 15-28 cm long and 6-10 cm wide, narrow at both ends, tip pointed; petioled, 5-10 cm long, triangular.  Flowers are Pea-like, purplish, with shortened pedicels. Flowers 1-1.5 cm long, on 7-10 cm-lengthed raceme inflorescence, dense-flowered. Flowering occurs in the spring (Feb-Apr).   Fruit is a pod, oblong, 10-15 mm long, almost glabrous, usually bi-seeded....

Bon nil or Wild indigo ( Tephrosia purpurea , Family: Fabaceae) is an annual or biennial leafy and bushy herb or undershrub with spreading branches, attaining a height of .75-1 m. Branches are glabrous or slightly hairy. It is found in thickets and forests all over the country. It is also found in tropical Africa, Indian subcontinent, some countries of Southeast Asia and some parts of Australia.     Other names: Lohamari, Jongli nil, Buno nil (Bang); Purple tephrosia, Fish poison (Eng). Leaves are light green, pinnately compound, 6-10 cm long, leaflets 15-21, paripinnate or imparipinnate, opposite, ovate-oblanceolate, glabrous above, silky hairs bebeath. Flowers are Pea-like, 2-lipped, purple, 8-10 mm long, The corolla is two times longer than the calyx. 2-4 flowers in axillary inflorescence (6-18 cm long). It flowers in autumn (Sep-Nov). Fruit is legume, 4-6 cm long, linear, slightly curved at the top, dark brown when dry, dehiscent. Seeds are inedible, 5-9. Flowers a...

Tulsi o r Sacred basil ( Ocimum tenuiflorum , family: Lamiaceae) is an odorous perennial herb or undershrub with many branches attaining a height of 1-1.5 m. Almost whole body of the plant is covered with hairs. Stem is woody, furrowed and quadrangular. Like many other herbs (Dhutra, Begun, Pepper) the plant can be purple. It is found everywhere in Bangladesh as a medicinal as well as sacred plant to Hindu community. It has spread across a huge global range, extending from the Arabian Peninsula to East Asia as well as Pacific Islands to Australia.  Other names: Kalo tulsi (Bang); Tulasi, Ajaka (Sans); Holy basil (Eng).  Leaves are strongly scented, green or purple, hairy, ovate-broadly elliptical, 2-5 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide, opposite, irregularly dented, petiole 2-3 cm long.  Flowers are tiny, white or purplish, 3-8 on terminal inflorescence (12-25 cm long). Corolla bilabiate, petals 5, calyx divided into two parts, Stamens 4. It produces flower almost round the yea...

Bon akra or Burbush ( Triumfetta rhomboidea , family: Tiliaceae) is an annual or perennial undershrub with woody stem and few branches, attaining a height of 1-1.5 m. Bark is smooth and brownish. Young shoots are reddish and covered with soft hairs. It is found beside roads, fallow lands and slopes of hill. Its origin is probably tropical America. It is now well-adapted to tropical Africa and Asia. However it has been identified as an invasive plant all over the world. Common names: Bon okra (Bang); Chinese bur, Burweed (Eng). Leaves are variable, ovate-lanceolate or 3-lobed, 3-10 cm long. 3-7 veins, acute at end, base rounded, irregularly dented, petiole long, alternate. Flowers are in terminal inflorescence, 3-4, yellow. Petals 5, sepals 5.   Fruit is bristly capsule, rounded or ovoid, dark brown, tiny, covered with thorn-like hairs, dehiscent. Its dried fruits get stuck in the body of human or cattle due to this kind of hairs. Its Bangla name 'Bon akra' is probably deriv...

Kath-shola or Budda pea ( Aeschynomene indica , Family: Fabaceae) is a woddy annual or perennial erect undershrub with some narrow and slender branches and sensative leaves, attaining a height of 1 to 1.5 m. Stem is corky, greenish and glabrous. It loves to grow near the water bodies and in ditches, fallow lands and muddy soil in Bangladesh. It is also found throughout Asia. Other names: Shola (Bang); Indian jointvetch (Eng).  Leaves are light green, compound, bipinnate; blades 40-60, tiny, linear-oblong, alternate, petiole short, no veins except the midrib. In the absence of sunlight, the leaves curl up like most other members of Fabaceae. Flowering occurs in rainy season. These are in axillary raceme, 2-4, tiny, reddish yellow, 1-1.5 cm long. Sepals 5 with connecting 2-lipped calyx. Upper part of the calyx is entire, lower entire or 3-lobed. Corolla caducous, two times larger than calyx. Peduncle and pedicel are glutinous and slightly hairy.     Fruit is legume,...