වලු නුග[Walu Nuga]/Weeping Fig/Benjamin Fig(Ficus benjamina)

A large banyan with few or no aerial roots from branches. Distributed in India and South China to the Soloman islands. Introduced to Sri Lanka and planted as a shade tree. 

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. 

Cyperus difformis

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

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.

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. 

Carex indica

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

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)

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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) 

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

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. 

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.

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 ).

මූදු හාල්පන්[Mudu Halpan](Fimbristylis quinquangularis[Syn: Fimbristylis miliacea])

Common indigenous annual or apparently biennial of wet grassy places at low elevations. Often a weed in paddy fields. 

Schoenoplectiella juncoides [Syn: Schoenoplectus juncoides]

Common native tufted herb grows in wet places, often in paddy fields. 

Cyperus pilosus

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

Rhynchospora corymbosa

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

Fuirena umbellata

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

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.

Cyperus richardii [Syn: Kyllinga bulbosa]

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

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). 

Umbrella papyrus/Umbrella sedge (Cyperus alternifolius)

An introduced tall perennial, native to the tropical Africa and Arabia. Widely cultivated as an ornamental and also escaped and naturalized in grassy places. 

දේවදාර/ඊ පෙත්ත/ඕවිළ/ඕලිල[Devadara/I Petta/O lila/O wila](Monoon longifolium [Syn: Polyalthia longifolia])

An indigenous tree of dry zone gallery forests along the east coast. The columnar form with pendent branches is often planted in gardens and along roads. 

සිරි වැඩි බැවිල/ගිරි වැඩි බැවිල[Siriwedi Bevila/Giriwadi Bevila] (Sida mysorensis)

An indigenous perennial herb found in waste places, roadsides and in secondary vegetation up to about 700 m a.s.l. 

අනිත්ත[Aniththa] (Rhinacanthus flavovirens)

Rhinacanthus flavovirens is a recently described endemic perennial herb distributed in secondary forests of North Central, Central and Southern province dry lowlands. It occurs under shade of trees close to watercourses.

Reference : Amarasinghe A.P.P.R.& Wijesundara D.S.A., 2011, A new species of rhinacanthus (Acanthaceae) from Sri lanka, Edinburge Journal of Botany 68(3): 333-337 (2011)

මහ රතඹලා[Maha Ratambala]/Torch Tree(Ixora pavetta)

Common native shrub or small tree distributed in dry deciduous forests of the low country and lower montane zones. Flowering from March to July.

මොට්ටු තණ[Mottu Tana] (Cyperus mindorensis [Syn: Kyllinga nemoralis/Kyllinga monocephala)

Very common grass like native perennial herb occurs in waste places, roadsides, home gardens and grass lands of both wet and dry lowlands up to mid hills(?)

ගල් ඇඹල[Gal Ambala] (Begonia cordifolia)

An indigenous perennial stemless herb occurs mainly in pockets of humus on rock surfaces, mostly in shade, but occasionally on exposed moist surfaces. It grows mainly in the Southeastern intermediate zone from 100 to 500 m elevations. Flowering from December to March. 

වල් තේ කොළ [Wal te kola]Ceylon tea/Spanish needle/Beggar's tick (Bidens pilosa var. pilosa)

An introduced herb native to temperate and tropical America. Naturalized in Sri Lanka and occurs as two varieties.
var. pilosa (Above pic) - Without or usually with very small white ray flowers. Only known from Peradeniya-Kandy area. Flowering from November to March.
var. minor - Very common weed of roadsides, disturbed places, cultivated grounds, etc. in the montaze zone. Flowering occurs throughout the year.

පඹුරු[Pamburu](Pamburus missionis)

An indigenous small tree, rather common in dry lowland areas. Often occurs in sandy coastal areas. Flowering in April

ගිණිහිරිය[Ginihiriya] (Breynia quadrangularis [Syn: Sauropus quadrangularis])

An indigenous shrub of dry and intermediate zones.

* Sauropus rigidus Thw. which was considered as a rare endemic species is now treated as a synonym of Sauropus quadrangularis (Willd.) Muell. Arg.

Eriocaulon ceylanicum

An endemic perennial herb grows in swampy grasslands, ditches and stream margins of the higher hills from 2000 to 2400 m elevations. Flowering from October to May.

Cordia monoica

An indigenous tree known from dry lowland forests and open areas. 

ගොඩ කදුරු[Godakaduru]/Nux-Vomica(Strychnos nux-vomica)

An indigenous tree of dry zone secondary forests and scrub lands. Whole plant medicinal. 

Grewia bracteata

An indigenous shrub or small tree grows in lower montane forests of the intermediate zone.

දියමිත්ත[Diyamitta]/Velvet leaf(Cissampelos pareira)

Common native slender woody climber occurs throughout the island up to 1200 m a.s.l. Scrambling and twining over shrubs and in trees of forests. Roots, stem and leaves are used in medicine.

Male flower (Picture) Size = 3 mm