Herbarium JCB

Hydrolea zeylanica (L.) Vahl

Family : HYDROPHYLLACEAE
(WATERLEAF FAMILY)
Family (as per The Plant List) : Hydroleaceae
Species : Hydrolea zeylanica
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Hydrolea zeylanica (L.) Vahl
Vernacular name : Neeli nakshatralu, Pedda ponnaganti (Tel.); Balluballua, Languliya, Balluballua-kashindri (Ori.)
Key identification features : Annual, subsucculent, soft, speading herb with perennial root-stock, often rooting at nodes. Stems and branchlets are pubescent whjen young. Leaves are simple, elliptic-lanceolate, apically acute, basally obtuse or truncate. Margin is entire, glabrous above, glaucescent below and chartaceous. Flowers are axillary or in terminal racemes. Peduncles are up to 2 cm long. Calyx is glandular pubescent, lobes are 5, ovate. Corolla is deep blue, with ovate 5-lobes. Capsule is globose-hispid. Seeds are minute and wrinkled.
Habit : Herb
Flower, Fruit : October-May
Comments : On hill plains, abundant in clayey, low-lying moist places, river canals, fallow fields etc.
Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
Distribution Locality : Erode district, Gingee R.F. (Dharmapuri district) (Tamil Nadu State); Tirumala Hills (Chittoor district), West Godavari district, Srikakulam district (Andhra Pradesh State); Koraput district, Similipal Hills (Mayurbhanj district), Mahendragiri Hills (Ganjam district), Sambalpur district (Odisha State)
World Distribution : Tropical America, Africa, India to South-East Asia
Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2 ; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District ; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipal, Orissa; IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. ; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). 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=Hydrolea zeylanica. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.