Family: Malvaceae
Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida > Malvales > Malvaceae > Sida > S. acuta
Common name [English]: Morning mallow, Broom weed, Horn bean leaved sida
Vernacular name [Malayalam]: കുറുന്തോട്ടി
Habitat: Dry and moist deciduous forests, also in the plains.
Description: Erect subshrubs to 70 cm tall; branches distichous. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-6 x 1-2 cm, lanceolate to ovate, , apex acute or acuminate, base truncate, margins serrate, entire towards base, sparsely hirsute to glabrate on both surfaces; 3-nerved at base; petiole to 4 mm long; stipules 5-8 x 1-1.5 mm, unequal, one lanceolate, the other linear. Flowers solitary, axillary; pedicels to 5 mm long. Calyx 6-8 mm long, campanulate, ciliate on margins, divided to the middle. Petals creamy-yellow, 6-8 mm long, obliquely obovate. Staminal column c. 2 mm long; filaments to 1.5 mm long; anthers pale yellow. Ovary c. 1.5 mm long, ovoid; styles 6-8; stigma globose, yellow. Schizocarp to 5 mm long; mericarps 6-8, c. 3 x 2 mm, trigonous, reticulate, apically 2-awned; seeds c. 2 mm long, trigonous.
Flowering and Fruiting : August-October
Uses: A decoction of the whole plant is used as a treatment for fever
Cultivation : wild
References
http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org
https://indiabiodiversity.org