Spermacoce latifolia Aubl.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Gentianales > Rubiaceae > Spermacoce > S. latifolia

Description: Straggling or prostrate annual herb 10–60 cm. long with bright pale yellow green stems and foliage; stems branched or unbranched, square with angles slightly to distinctly winged, glabrous or with sparse to fairly dense short hairs on the angles or stems hairy all over. Leaf-blades often red margined, elliptic, 1.2–5 cm. long, 0.8–2.9 cm. wide, acute at the apex, cuneate at the base, pubescent or ± scabrid above with tubercle-based hairs, pubescent beneath or almost glabrescent all over save for the scabrid margins; petiole 0.5–3 mm. long; stipule-sheath 1.5 mm. long, with 5–9 setae 1.5–3.5 mm. long. Flowers in axillary clusters ± 8 mm. wide. Calyx-tube pubescent, obconic, 2.5 mm. long; lobes 4, oblong to lanceolate, 1.2–2 mm. long. Corolla whitish, blue or pink; tube funnel-shaped, 5 mm. long; lobes ovate-triangular, 1.5 mm. long and wide. Filaments exserted ± 1 mm. Style exserted 2 mm.; stigma-lobes linear, 1 mm. long. Capsule ellipsoid or subglobose, 2.5–3 mm. long, wrinkled, hairy. Seeds yellow brown, ellipsoid, 2–2.8 mm. long, 1.3–1.7 mm. wide, 0.8–1 mm. thick, reticulate-rugulose, with a deep wide ventral excavation.

Flowering and Fruiting : August-October

Uses : Used in traditional medicine . The root juice of the plant is used for the treatment of malarial fevers.

Cultivation : wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org