vasuka :

Morphology:

Herbs, annual or perennial, or subshrubs, prostrate to perhaps weakly ascending, apparently often fleshy, to 50 cm tall; stems subterete to usually markedly quadrate, glabrous to puberulent or pilosulous on sides, angles cartilaginous to winged, wings to 0.1 mm wide, ciliolate, hispidulous, or ciliate. Leaves sessile to shortly petiolate; petiole to 4 mm, hirtellous throughout or ciliolate in lines; blade drying papery to leathery, oblong-elliptic, obovate, or spatulate, 10-30(-40) × 5-15(-18) mm, both surfaces hirtellous to scaberulous, hispidulous, and/or hirsute, base cuneate to obtuse and usually long decurrent, margin scaberulous or ciliolate and often revolute, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded; secondary veins 2 or 3(or 4) pairs or not visible; stipules moderately to densely puberulent, hirtellous, and/or pilosulous often in lines, sheath 1-3 mm, with 5-7 bristles 1-5 mm. Inflorescences axillary, 5-15 mm in diam., with 1-6 flowers per axil; bracts linear or infrequently stipuliform, 1-5 mm. Calyx puberulent to hirtellous or scaberulous; hypanthium portion ellipsoid, 0.8-1 mm; lobes 4, linear-lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 1-1.5 mm, ciliolate or ciliate. Corolla pink, purple, or white, funnelform, outside glabrous or hispidulous to pilosulous on upper part; tube 2.5-4.5 mm, glabrous in throat; lobes elliptic-oblong, lanceolate, or triangular, 1-1.8 mm. Capsules ellipsoid to subglobose, sometimes weakly flattened perpendicular to septum, 2.5-5 × 2.5-3.5 mm, puberulent, hirtellous, pilosulous, and/or hispidulous, papery to cartilaginous, septicidal from apex with valves usually remaining connected at base then both valves loculicidal through septum, with calyx lobes sometimes enlarging, up to 2.2 mm; seeds black, elliptic to elliptic-oblong in outline, 2.2-3 mm, obtuse at both ends, shiny to dull, surface minutely granular or dimpled. Fl. and fr. Mar-Dec.

Histology:

Transverse section of midrib

The characters of transverse section (TS) of midrib with lateral extensions of the lamina on its either sides All the species were dorsiventral in nature, plano convex shaped with a depression on middle of dorsal side. Detailed TS showed rectangular shaped upper and lower epidermis. Lamina showed two layers of palisade parenchyma underneath the upper epidermis and 3 to 5 rows of spongy parenchyma were found beneath palisade layer. The rest of the midrib was occupied by the cortical parenchyma with collateral vascular bundle embedded in the middle. Xylem was towards center and phloem towards periphery. Parenchymatous tissue was thin walled with prominent intercellular spaces.

S. hispida has shown variation in size of epidermal cells and number of epidermal cells as compared to other species. Trichomes were absent in S. hispida and were present in other species. The lower epidermal cells were irregular shaped with wavy margin in all species, S. hispida has shown variation in size of epidermal cells and number of epidermal cells as compared to other species. Trichomes were present in S. hispida and S. mauritiana and were absent in other two species. All species possessed Rubiaceous (paracytic) stomata in both upper and lower epidermal layer.

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