Phyllanthus fraternus

Phyllanthus fraternus Webster, Contr. Gray Herb. 176: 53. 1955. Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras.org vol. 12; Radcliffe -Smith, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 25; P. fraternus subsp. togoensis Brunel & Roux, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 122: 161. 1975.

Annual herbs, monoecious, 30-50 (-80) cm; main stem angular, ultimate branches subterete, narrowly winged, +/- scabridulous, branching phyllanthoid. Leaves on main stem scale-like (cataphylls), linear-lanceolate, 1 mm long, acute, entire, subtending the intermediate shoots. Foliage leaves present on ultimate branchlets, distichous, well-developed; petioles 0.5 mm long; leaf blades elliptic-oblong to elliptic-oblanceolate, 5-13 mm x 2-5 mm, base cuneate or obtuse, apex obtuse or rounded, margin entire, lateral nerves 4-5 pairs, indistinct, dark green above, paler and greenish beneath, both surfaces glabrous. Stipules of cataphylls lanceolate, 1-1.3 mm long, scarious; stipules of foliage leaves 0.7-1 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, scarious with a pinkish or olive midrib. Inflorescences cymules, proximal cymules with 2-3 male flowers and distal with 1 female flower. Flowers unisexual, radially symmetric. Male Flowers: Pedicels ca. 1 mm long. Sepals 6, connate basally, with green midrib. Petals 0. Disc glands 6, free, lobulate, verruculose. Stamens 3; filaments united into short column; anthers subsessile, +/- horizontal, transversely dehiscent. Female Flowers: Pedicels 1.3-2 mm long, spreading in fruit. Sepals 6, free, oblong-oblanceolate, 1-1.5 mm x 0.5 mm, flat, 1-veined, rounded, white, midrib green. Disc thin, flat, irregularly deeply-lobed into 6-10 segments, some broad and crenate, others triangular and bifid, yet others linear and entire. Ovary sessile, subglobose, ca. 1 mm x 1 mm, smooth; styles minute, free, adpressed or ascending, bilobate, lobes recurved. Fruits capsule, trilobate-subglobose, 1.7-2 mm diameter, smooth, olivaceous or stramineous, dehiscent into 3 2-valved cocci when mature, columella persistent. Seeds 1 mm x 0.7 mm, longitudinally 7-8-ribbed on the back.

Flowering and Fruiting: August to October
Common Names: Gulf Leaf-Flower; Bhuin Anvahla, Hajarmani, Kanochha (Hindi)