Common name: Nepal Osbeckia
Botanical name: Osbeckia nepalensis Family: Melastomataceae (Melastome family)
Synonyms: Osbeckia speciosa
Nepal Osbeckia is a shrub growing to 1 m or more, with 4-angled branches
covered with adpressed hairs. Lancelike leaves with entire margins have 3-5
parallel veins. Handsome flowers are mauve-purple or white, 3-5 cm across, in rather
dense branched clusters at the end of branches. Sepals are covered with large
flat scales, fringed with bristles. Stamens are straight, and all similar.
The anthers also do not have apical beaks which are seen in Melastoma
malabathricum. It is found at altitudes of 600-2300 m.
Flowering: July-November.
| Photographed in Munnar, Kerala. |
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