Dirgha-Mula / Slender Dog-Bane
Ichnocarpus frutescens
Also known as Black Creeper
- Habit
- Liana
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan & more
- Flowering
- August-December
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Ichnocarpus frutescens
- Genus
- Ichnocarpus
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Habit
- Liana
- Habitat
- Deciduous forests and plains
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- Tropical Asia
- Distribution
- Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia to Australia
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Puducherry
- Flowering & fruiting
- August-December
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Typical of the Apocynaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Fruit type
- FolliclerecordedA dry pod that splits open along a single seam.“The fruit is a follicle which may be over 14 cm (5.5 in) long.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Follicle
Characters marked “recorded” are for Dirgha-Mula itself; the rest are typical of the Apocynaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- दीर्घ मूला Dirgha-Mula, काली दूधी Kali Dudhi, श्यामलता Shyamalata
- Nepali
- दुधे लहरा Dudhe Lahara
- Bengali
- শ্যামা লতা Shyama Lata, শ্যামা লতা
- Tamil
- ஊதற்கொடி Utar-Koti
- Telugu
- ముంతగజ్జనము Munta-Gaj-Janamu
- Kannada
- ಗೌರಿಬಳ್ಳಿ Gauriballi, ಹಾಲುಗೆಣಸು Halugenasu, ಕರಿಹಂಬು Karihambu
- Malayalam
- നന്നാറി Nannari, പാൽവള്ളി Palvalli, പാൽവള്ളി
- Marathi
- काटे भोवरी Kate Bhowari, कृष्णसारिवा Krishna Sariva, श्यामलता Shyamalata
About Dirgha-Mula
Slender Dog-Bane (Ichnocarpus frutescens) is a woody climber in the Apocynaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and 21 other states. It grows in deciduous forests and plains. Flowering and fruiting run from August to December.
Apocynaceae
Dogbane family
Dirgha-Mula belongs to the Apocynaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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