Phaulopsis imbricata (Forssk.) Sweet

Code

PVPIM

Growth form

Broadleaf
 
Biological cycle

Perennial
 
Habitat

Terrestrial

 

Global description

Phaulopsis imbricata is a perennial herbaceous plant, usually prostrate at the base, then erect. The young stems are sub-quadrangular and hairy. The leaves are simple, opposite, petiolate, of unequal sizes on the same pair. The lamina is oval, with acute base and wide at the apex, pubescent on both sides. The inflorescence is located in the leaf axils or terminal with two leafy bracts at the base, one sterile lanceolate, the other fertile largely oval. The flowers can be solitary or assembled into a very short cyme, 3 to 5 flowers. The calyx is composed of 5 free sepals and the white corolla is formed by a tube ending in two lobes (Interior lobe trilobed, Upper lobe bilobed). The fruit is a glabrous capsule.
 
General habit
 
Phaulopsis imbricata is a perennial herbaceous plant, weakly bushy, with stems first prostrate on the ground and then erect vertically. The stems are generally branched from the base. The plant can measure up to 1 m in height.
 
 
Underground system
 
The plant has a taproot system.
 
Stem
 
The young stem is sub-quadrangular, eventually becoming rounded and more or less grooved. It is hairy, with white hairs.
 
Leaf
 
The leaves are simple, opposite. The two leaves of the same pair are of slightly different sizes. The leaf lamina is carried by a petiole, 5 to 30 mm long. The lamina is oval or lanceolate with attenuated base at an acute angle, often asymmetrical and with a wide or acute apex. It is 1 to 12 cm long and 6 to 70 mm wide. The margin is entire or finely grooved. Both sides are covered with a pubescence of long white hairs. The veins are very marked on the lower surface of the lamina; They are arcuate till the margin.
 
Inflorescence
 
The inflorescences are terminal or axillary, forming a kind of spike. The axis of the inflorescence carries pairs of opposite, foliaceous, pubescent glandular bracts. The sterile bracts are oval lanceolate. The fertile bract is largely oval, venated, 10 to 12 mm long and 9 to 15 mm wide. In the axils of the fertile bracts, there is a solitary flower or usually a small group of 3 to 5 flowers arranged in a very short cyme.
 
Flower
 
The flower is made up of a calyx with 5 free sepals, glandular pubescent, uneven in size. The posterior is lanceolate, 10 to 12 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide. The laterals are linear, 7 to 8 mm long and the anterior are linear acute, 10 to 12 mm long. The corolla is white, purple-washed on the inside of the tube, 11 mm long, and formed of an 8 mm sub-cylindrical tube which divides at the top into two deeply lobed lips. The upper lip is bilobed and the lower lip is trilobed. The lobes are sinuous at the top. There are 4 stamens with 2 anthers, inserted in the middle of the tube of the corolla. The stamens are arranged in pairs, with threads fused at the base. The ovary is slightly pubescent at the top, consisting of 2 boxes each containing 2 ova. The style carries a few hairs at the base. It is surmounted by a bifid stigma, with a very short branch. The flowers have an unpleasant odor.
 
Fruit
The fruit is a glabrous capsule, 8 to 9 mm long, with two loculus, each containing 2 seeds.

Madagascar: Phaulopsis imbricata flowers from February to July.

Phaulospsis imbricata is a perennial plant. It multiplies by seeds.

India: Phaulopsis imbricata grows in semi-evergreen and deciduous forests, as well as in the plains of Kerala and the wetlands of Assam.
South Africa: Phaulopsis imbricata grows in forest undergrowth, forest margins, and on hillsides.
Zimbabwe: Phaulopsis imbricata develops in open bushland, woods and along forest edges. It grows up to 1900 m altitude.

 

Food: Young leaves of Phaulopsis imbricata can be eaten as a vegetable.
 
Medicinal: The ash of the plant can be used as an insertion in scarifications on the back against rheumatism (Tanganyika)

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Phaulopsis%2520imbricata