Desmodium gangeticum
Family: SOLANACEAE
Malayalam Name(s): Rakthachunda
Habit: Shrub
Flowering & Fruiting: September-January
Medicinal: Yes
Habitat: Degraded forests and waste places
Description: Densely prickly subshrubs, 30-40 cm tall. Leaves sinuately lobed, 6-9 x 4-7 cm, base obliquely cordate, lobes acuminate, sparsely villous hairy, chartaceous, scattered prickles especially on the nerves beneath. Inflorescence extra-axillary, few-flowered, flowers pendent. Calyx prickly, teeth broadly triangular. Corolla white, c. 6 mm long. Berry 2-2.5 cm across, globose, at first pale green with dark green markings, crimson-red at maturity. Seeds c. 5 mm across, flat, punctate, winged.
