Sunday, May 28, 2017

Great Crow/King Crow (Euploea phaenareta corus)

Rather uncommon butterfly flies in well wooded coastal wetlands and mangroves of southwestern part of the country from Negombo to Galle. Further inland it can be also found in Sinharaja forest reserve near Kudawa, Kanneliya forest reserve and Kottawa forest reserve. Great Crow is a shade loving insect spends much of its time resting on leaves or twigs of forest trees while flies only hour or two after sunrise. Its larva feed on leaves of Cerbera odollam (ගොන් කඳුරු) trees. 

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Cyperus difformis

Common native annual widely distributed in wet places of all climatic zones. Often found in paddy fields.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

බටකිරිල්ල[Bata Kirilla] (Erythroxylum moonii)

An endemic shrub or small tree occurs along streams in wet zone forests up to 1000 m a.s.l. Rather common and flowering and fruiting from August to December. Juice of the leaves is used in traditional medicine to treat diarrhea.


Friday, May 19, 2017

Knoxia sumatrensis

An indigenous herb occurs as two varieties in the island.

  • Knoxia sumatrensis sumatrensis - Grows from lowlands to about 1300 m elevations
  • Knoxia sumatrensis hookeriana (Above picture) - Found in mountainous regions from 500 to 2200 m a.s.l. 

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Carex indica

Tall native perennial rather rare in wet lowland forests to higher hills. 

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

මස් මොර [Mas Mora] (Adenanthera aglaosperma)

Rather rare endemic tree found in southwestern wet lowland forests.

*Adenanthera bicolor Moon is a misapplied name which has been erroneously used to refer to Adenanthera aglaosperma Alston. (http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-50512)

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

ගස් කොතල[Gas Kotala](Artanema longifolium)

Rather rare native herb found under shade along forest borders, waste lands and paddy field borders from wet lowlands to about 1100 m elevations in lower hills. Flowering from May to November. 

Monday, May 8, 2017

මුරුත[Muruta]/Pride of India/Queen's flower (Lagerstroemia speciosa)

An indigenous tree rare in moist wet lowlands up to 600 m a.s.l. (As per Thwaites and Trimen) or extinct in the wild. But commonly planted not only moist wet lowlands but also in the hill country and in relatively dry areas. According to Lewis (1934) there had been a white-flowered variant of this from Kelani river near Kitulgala. Roots, barks and seeds are used in medicine. 

Saturday, May 6, 2017

කොල්ලන් කොළ/ගං කොල්ලන් කොළ/ගස් කොලන් කොළ[ Kollan Kola/Gan Kollan Kola/Gas Kolan Kola] (Pogostemon heyneanus)

An indigenous undershrub common in damp undergrowth of montane forests in the lower and higher uplands from 700 to 2000 m a.s.l. Also cultivated in the lowlands as a medicinal plant. Flowering from January to October.  Leaves and roots used in medicine.


Friday, May 5, 2017

Cleghornia acuminata

An endemic liana rather rare in the hill country forests from 600 to 1500 m elevations.
Flower size - Corolla tube 0.2 - 0.3 cm long and corolla lobe half as long as the tube.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Henckelia angusta [Syn: Chirita angusta]

An endemic herb found on rocks along and in small forest streams of the southwestern wet zone up to foothills of the Ratnapura district. Usually grows in dense shade.  Flowering in March and August (probably irregularly throughout the year) 

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

වල්ලා/වල්ලා පට්ටා/පට්ටා වල්ලා[Walla/Walla Patta/Patta Walla](Gyrinops walla)

An indigenous shrub or tree grows in Southwestern moist forests up to about 1000 m elevations of the Central province. It also occurs in extreme southwest of the India but where it  appears to be very rare. Its extremely tough, fibrous easily stripped bark is used for the cordage. Whole plant medicinal

Flower size - 0.5 cm across

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Coleus kanneliyensis [Syn: Plectranthus kanneliyensis]

An endemic perennial herb grows in partial shade by streams in secondary wet lowland forests up to about 200 m a.s.l. A gregarious plant flowering from June to September. 

Monday, May 1, 2017

ආරිද්ද[Aridda] (Campnosperma zeylanicum)

An endemic small to large tree occurs in wet lowland forests. Flowering from March to April

Flower size - About 0.6 cm across.