• Family : ASCLEPIADACEAE
  (Milkweed Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : AAK FAMILY (आक फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : APOCYNACEAE
• Basionym : Cynanchum viminale (L.) L.
• Synonym(s) : Sarcostemma acidum (Roxb.) Voigt
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Cynanchum viminale (L.) L.
• Common name : Moon creeper, Moon plant
• Vernacular name : Soma, Somavalli (Sanskrit); Kodikkali (Tamil); Konda pala, Somalatha, Aku jemudu, Chittipala, Dudhi, Pandiri jamudu, Aakuleni jemudu, Palmakastham (Telugu); Somam, Somavalli, Somalatha, Vayastha (Malayalam); Somalatha (Hindi); Somalate, Soma balli, Hambukalli (Kannada)
• Habit : Climbing shrub
• Comments / notes : Occasional in dry deciduous and scrub forests on rocky surfaces.
• Flower, Fruit : August-May
• Distribution :
  • Kerala : Wayanad district, Idukki district
• World Distribution : India, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Africa
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Ulrich Meve, U. & S.S. Liede 2012. Taxonomic dissolution of Sarcostemma (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae). KEW BULLETIN VOL. 67: 751 – 758; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Sarcostemma viminale. Downloaded on 3 May 2024.

Botanical Description

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