Talinum triangulare (Jacq.) Willd.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida C. Agardh > Caryophyllales Juss. ex Bercht. & J. Presl > Talinaceae > Talinum > Talinum triangulare (Jacq.) Willd.

Description: Herbs or undershrubs, about 50-100 cm tall, stem erect, simple or branched, root thick, stout, sparsely branched. Leaves simple, lower opposite, upper ones alternate and spirally arranged, obovate-elliptic, base attenuate, margin entire, apex obtuse with micronate tip to sometimes shallow emarginate, pinnately veined, succulent or semisucculent, petiole short to sessile, stipules absent. Inflorescence terminal thyrsoid, 10-30 flowered, pedunculate, with triangular axis, with about 10 dichasia. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, pedicel about 5-10 mm long, bracts subulate, membranous, apex acute, bracteoles subulate, sepals 2, deltoid-suborbicular, distinct, margins scarious, apex acute or acuminate, deciduous or persistent, petals 5, obovate, pink, reddish purple, margins entire, apex obtuse to subacute, deciduous or persistent. Stamens 20-40, adnate to petals, filaments distinct, about 5 mm long, anthers 2 locular, dorsifixed. Ovary superior, style 2-3 armed. Fruit capsule, globose-ellipsoid, about 3.5-5 mm across, mostly tri-valved or 2 valved, valves deciduous, dehiscing irregularly. Seeds many, reniform-globose, compressed, brown or black, tuberculate at edges, rest smooth and shining.

Flowering and Fruiting: October - January

Uses: Used as vegetable in substitute for Amaranthus gangeticus

Cultivation: Cultivated/wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org