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Kumaon Leptodermis
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Kumaon Leptodermis
ative elliptic Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: Kumaon Leptodermis
Botanical name: Leptodermis kumaonensis    Family: Rubiaceae (coffee family)

Kumaon Leptodermis is a deciduous grey stemmed shrub which grows upto 1.5 m high. Small narrow-elliptic, short-stalked leaves are entire, but sometimes have spiny hair on the edges. Leaves are oblong-lanceshaped or ovate-lanceshaped, 3-10 x 1-2.5 cm on long branches, usually shorter than 1.5 cm on short branches. Flowers are white or pink, and turn purple with time. They appear in stalkless clusters on ends of lateral short branches. Flower are funnel-shaped, 1.3-1.5 cm, hairy or nearly hairless outside, white hairy below throat inside; lobes 5, with sinus about 3 mm in depth, tip bluntly 3-toothed, central portion slightly thickened, about 2 mm wide, margins of both sides thin, 1-1.2 mm wide, inflexed in bud. Bracts are 2, about 7 mm or slightly longer, about 2/3 fused, free portion prickly-pointed, fringed with hairs, often hairy near midrib outside. Sepal-tube is 3.5-4 mm; lobes 5, triangular-ovate, about 1.5 mm, fringed with hairs, pointed or slightly blunt. Kumaon Leptodermis is found in the Himalayas at an altitude of 2000-3800 m. Flowering: June-July.

Identification credit: Tabish Photographed Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.

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