Herbarium JCB

Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston

Family : EUPHORBIACEAE
(SPURGE FAMILY)
Family (as per The Plant List) : Phyllanthaceae
Species : Breynia retusa
Basionym : Phyllanthus retusus Dennst.
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston
Common name : Bishop Wood
Vernacular name : Kala Mohamad, Kambhi (Hin.); Devadari (Tel.); Tina, Jajan, Rakta trichuli (Ori.); Kanmbogi (San.)
Collection Nos : HJCB-0156
Collector(s) Name : K.Sankara Rao, K.R.K.Swamy & Arun Singh R.
Collection Date : 19/11/2014
Collection Locality : Palamner forest range, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh State
Habitat : Dry deciduous forest
Key identification features : A diffuse shrub or a small tree. Leaves are simple, distichous, glaucous beneath and drying black above. Flowers are axillary, small, brownish-yellow and pendulous appearing with young leaves. Perianth faintly six-lobed, pale-green colour and top-shaped. Disk is thick and glandular, lying immediately below the perianth lobes in male flowers. Perianth is accrescent in fruit and saucer like. Fruit is a capsule, brilliant orange-red when ripe.
Habit : Shrub
Flower, Fruit : March-August
Comments : On hills above 600 m, on open slopes, forest border and floor. A higher altitude replacement of B.vitis-idaea.
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Distribution Locality : Throughout Eastern Ghats
World Distribution : Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh
Literature : L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3 ; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Breynia retusa. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.