Urena lobata L.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida > Malvales > Malvaceae > Urena > U. lobata

Description: Subshrublike herbs, erect, Branchlets stellate tomentose. Stipules filiform, ca. 2 mm, caducous; petiole 1-4 cm, gray-white stellate; leaf blades on proximal part of stem nearly orbicular, 4-5 × 5-6 cm, base rounded or nearly cordate, margin serrate, apex 3-lobed, blades on middle part of stem ovate, 5-7 × 3-6.5 cm, those on distal part of stem oblong to lanceolate, 4-7 × 1.5-3 cm, abaxially gray stellate puberulent, adaxially puberulent. Flowers solitary or slightly aggregated, axillary. Pedicel ca. 3 mm, woolly. Epicalyx lobes connate for ca. 1/3 length, ca. 6 mm, puberulent. Calyx cup-shaped, lobes 5, slightly shorter than bracteoles, stellate puberulent, caducous. Corolla reddish, ca. 15 mm in diam.; petals 5, obovate, ca. 1.5 cm, abaxially stellate puberulent. Staminal column ca. 15 mm, glabrous. Style branches 10, hirsute. Fruit flattened globose, ca. 1 cm in diam.; mericarps stellate puberulent and spiny with hooked spines. Seed dispersal mainly by birds, animals often humanbeings unknowingly. The tiny spines on the fruits helped this process which sticked on the body hairs and feathers of the mammals and birds and also on the cloths.

Flowering and Fruiting: August - December

Uses: Medicine in Ayurveda, Folk medicine, Siddha, Traditional chinese medicine

Cultivation: Cultivated, Wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org