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.

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Ceylon Palm Bob/Small Palm Bob (Suastus minuta minuta)

Rather rare insect found in forested habitats of southwestern wet zone. Few colonies are also inhabiting below Revestone and Corbet's Gap areas of the Knuckles range. It's flight season is from April to June (Woodhouse noted that it has been captured between July and November in Kandy district). The larval host plants are Loxococcus rupicola[රන් දෝතළු]Calamus pseudotenuis[හීන් වේවැල්] (At the higher elevations) and Calamus radiatus[කුකුළු වැල්] (At the lower elevations). It also feeds on leaves of other Calamus species (Calamus digitatus, Calamus metzianus and Calamus thwaitesii ).

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Cyperus pilosus

Rather common native plant of moist low country to higher hills. Also in Intermediate zone.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Rhynchospora corymbosa

Common native plant occurs in open marshy areas and margins of paddy fields at low elevations. 

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Fuirena umbellata

Common native perennial herb found on open wet or swampy places from sea level to about 1800 m a.s.l.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

උගුඩුවා/කලවැද්දා[Uguduwa/Kalawadda]/Common Palm Civet/Toddy Cat/Palm Cat (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)

Common animal distributed throughout the island, inhabiting rocky outcrops and/or trees in the country side and roofs of houses in urban areas. It is a purely nocturnal mammal and spends the day time curled up, asleep in its day time hideout usually a ceiling of a house in cities where rocky areas or tall trees are not readily available. It is mainly an arboreal animal and  feeds fruits and berries such as papaw, passion fruits, pineapple, kithul (Caryota urens) etc. But Common Palm Civet also eats rats, mice, frogs, birds, spiders, cockroaches as well as domestic chickens. It has a habit of depositing its droppings which often contain large quantities of undigested kithul and other hard-shelled seeds, on the top of large rocks and fallen tree trunks. It breeds throughout the year though more young are seen in the latter part of the year before the North-East monsoon. The young are brought forth in a hole in a tree, dry nook under overhanging rocks or often in a dry corner of a ceiling. Usually litter size is 3 or 4 in Sri Lanka. Except when a mother is accompanied by her broods it is usually seen singly.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Cyperus richardii [Syn: Kyllinga bulbosa]

Common native perennial of grasslands, roadsides waste places and scrub lands, mainly in the dry lowlands.


Sunday, April 9, 2017

Cyperus aromaticus [Syn: Kyllinga polyphylla]



An introduced weed native to the tropical Africa and Madagascar. According to the Flora of Ceylon Vol 5 it was only known from a place between Pussellawa and Ramboda at mile 28/10 along Kandy -Nuwaraeliya Rd (950 m a.s.l. ) in the Nuwaraeliya district. It is also noted that apparently it was a rather recent introduction. Since then (1985) it seems that it has become a widely distributed weed in paddy fields, marshes and roadsides, at least in the moist areas from lowland to the hill country (Personal observations).