Flora of Bangladesh

Holdey pana or Sawah Lettuce ( Limnocharis flava , family: Limnocharitaceae) is a aquatic perennial  herb with milky latex, attaining a height of 1 m. Though it looks a lot like Kochuripana (Water hyacinth) from a distance, it does not float like that, its roots remain in the mud. Although not indigenous, it is found in streamless water bodies like canals, beels, ditches and cropfields, as in other tropical regions. The original home of the erect herb is tropical America. Leaves are big, thick, light green, smooth, orbicular or ovate-oblong, 15-32 cm long and 10-20 cm wide, tip blunted, base usually rounded. Petiole is thick and broad, 25-90 cm long. Flowers are yellow, cup-shaped, 2-3 cm wide. 2-12 flowers in umbel inflorescence are produced at the end of erect, long and triangular peduncle. Petals and sepals no. 3. Stamens numerous.   Due to the weight of the fruit, when the peduncle falls into the mud, the seeds come out of the fruit. Fruits are round. A single fruit contains abo

Onjon or Iron-wood tree ( Memecylon edule , family: Melastomataceae) is a large evergreen shrub or small-sized tree with numerous woody branches, attaining a height of 4 m. Bark is brownish. Its flowering beauty is incomparable. It is one of the most spectacular flowering shurbs among Indian subcontinent. The original home of the bushy plant is Southwestern India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. It is also found in some countries in South and Southeast Asia.  Leaves are dark green, entire, ovate-lanceolate, 6-10 cm long and 3-5 cm wide, glabrous, leathery, apex elongated and subacute, petioled, opposite.  Flowers are small, blue, clustered in stems or the exils of leaves. Flower is very small, 5 mm wide. Petals 5, sepals 5, stamens 8, calyx tubular, pink or reddish. The flowers bloom in spring and continue until summer. All the branches are covered with bunches of flowers in this time. Fruit is edible, berry, round, 1 cm wide, initially red and turn deep purple or blackish when ripe. Seeds 1-

Jolbahar or Water sprite ( Ceratopteris thalictroides , family: Pteridaceae) is an annual aquatic fern with fibrous roots generated from the slender stipe. It can survive in floating or submerged conditions. Though it grows rapidly in submerged state. Stem and shoots are quadrangular, hollow inside. Stem is almost absent, very small, straight. It is found in shallow swamps and crop fields in Bangladesh. Other names: Khudey dheki-shak (Bang); Indian fern, Water fern, Oriental waterfern, Water hornfern (Eng). Fronds (or leaves) are so diverse in size and shape that differences can be seen in the same plant. These are multilobed, bipinnate or tripinnate. The mutilobed leaves are thick and barren, light green in color. The spore-producing leaves are linear, relatively dark green in color. Fertile fronds (20-90 cm) are longer than barren ones (10-60 cm). Like other land ferns, new leaves, like wrapped trunks, grow from the mother plant. The fast-growing plant is widely planted as an aqua

Chapalish or Chaplash ( Artocarpus chama , family: Moraceae) is a large-sized deciduous tree with buttressed base and milky latex, attaining a height of 30 m. Bark is brownish. Trunk is straight. The characteristics of the fruit is exactly like Jackfruit , but much smaller and rounder in size. It is cultivated for its fruit and wood somewhere. It is mainly found in the hilly forests of Chattogram and Chattogram Hill Tracts and Sylhet division as well as the forest of Madhupur of Tangail district. Its original home is Indian subcontinent.   Other names:  Chambol, Chambul, Cham-kathal, Kanthali-cham, Cham-phol. Leaves are obovate, hairy, dark green 12-18 cm long and 12-16 cm wide, petioled, alternate, edge slightly undulated. The texture of veins and midribs are hard and clearly visible. In young plants leaves are mulilobed and large, can be up to 90 cm long, which is quite different from the mature plants. Flowers on round receptacles, single, axillary. Male and female flowers are pro

Jamalgota or Gum plant ( Jatropha curcas , family: Euphorbiaceae) is a small-sized deciduous or semi-deciduous tree with soft wood and branches, attaining a height of 6 m. Bark is whitish grey, smooth and shiny; it releases thin scales. On injury it produces a kind of milky substance. The shrubby tree is called Gum plant for this kind of sticky juice. The plant is originated in tropical America and gradually spread to other tropical and subtropical areas. It is found mainly in the medicinal gardens of Bangladesh.  Other names : Chanda, Bag-verenda, Bon-verenda, Shada jeol (Bang); Posion nut, Physic nut, Barbados nut, Bubble bush, Purging nut (Eng).  Leaves are light green, long petioled, cordate at base, and slightly palmate, 10-15 cm long, alternate or opposite, pointed lobes 3-5. The palmate veins have sub-veins. Flowers are yellowish green, small, without any pedicel, gathering at the ends of branches. Female and male flowers are produced separately in the same inflorescence. Flow

Boloch or Bolosh ( Balakata baccata , family: Euphorbiaceae) is an large-sized evergreen tree with glabrous body, attaining a height of 30 m. Petiole and young leaves are reddish. Bark is grey. It is found in the hilly areas of Chattogram and Sylhet division in Bangladesh. It is also found in some countries of South and Southeast Asia.  Other names: Chotomol, Kalabel, Kalagota, Koilan, Bila, Billa. Leaves are eye-catching, elliptic-lanceolate, 8-20 cm long and 4-10 cm wide, alternate, acute or blunt. Midrib and veins clearly visible. The midrib starts slightly away from the base. Reddish petioles are 2-10 cm long.  Flowers in terminal inflorescence, yellowish, nice smelling. These are andromonoecious (having male and bisexual flowers in same plant). Flowering occurs in spring.  Fruit is berry, subglobose, fleshy, tastes sweet. These mature in late autumn. Birds love the fruits very much. Seeds 1-2. It is tall and nicely crowned tree and can be planted as ornamental one in parks and

Batul or Swamp willow ( Shirakiopsis indica , family: Europhorbiaceae) is a small or medium-sized evergreen mangrove tree with profuse branches attaining a height of 8-15 m. Trunk is thorny. Bark is grey. It is mainly found in the coastal regions of Bangladesh, especially in Khulna, Bagerhat, Bhola, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar. It is also found in several countries in South and Southeast Asia. Other names: Ormei, Hura. Leaves are simple, lanceolate, 5-12 cm long and 3-4 cm wide, alternate, too nmuch veined, midrib clearly visible, edge regularly dented, tip ponted. Petiole 1-1.5 cm long, reddish. Flowers are terminal, in raceme inflorescence, yellowish. Flowering season is late spring.  Fruit is globose, hard, 2.5-3 cm wide. Ripe fruit is blackish. Fruits and seeds are poisonous. The propagation is caused by seeds.  The juice of roots used as purgative and emetic in the treatment of rabies and insinsanity. Immature fruits are used as fish poison. Leaves are used in gonorrhoea. Sy