Journal
Journal of Applied Horticulture, 18(1): 30-33, 2016
Appl
Morphological characterization of herbaceous Phyllanthus spp.
from Kerala
Shafna Kalarikkal1*, P.S. Udayan2 and M. Asha Sankar1
Department of Plantation Crops & Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur District, Kerala.
P.G. Department of Botany & Research Centre, Sree Krishna College, Ariyannur P.O., Guruvayur,
Thrissur District, Kerala, India. *E-mail: shafnak4@gmail.com
1
2
Abstract
Phyllanthus amarus Schum and Thonn belonging to Euphorbiaceae is reputed for its hepatoprotective activity against Hepatitis
B virus. Preponderance of other herbaceous Phyllanthus spp. often leads to deliberate adulteration or substitution, lowering the
efficacy of medication. Hence surveying agro ecological zones of Kerala and characterizing natural population of Phyllanthus spp.
morphologically will ensure the correct identity. Exploratory surveys were conducted adopting purposive sampling procedure and
accessions of Phyllanthus spp. were collected from different agro-ecological zones of Kerala (coastal, plains, midlands and high
altitude regions) representing northern, central and southern Kerala. The collected accessions were identified using morphological
key characters of herbaceous Phyllanthus spp. as described in Flora of Madras Presidency by Gamble and Fischer (1915-1936). No
considerable variations were observed for characters like, growth habit, branching pattern, leaf margin, capsule colour, capsule shape
and flower colour. Accessions representing P. amarus were found to have oblong leaflet shape, obtuse apex and round base. Dark green,
light green and purple green stem colour and faintly mucronate to mucronate leaf apices were observed for the collected accessions of
P. urinaria. The accession of P. maderaspatensis had obcordate leaf apex. Number of sepals and pedicel length were identified to be
the non variable quantitative characters in Phyllanthus. Highest plant height, was observed for P. virgatus var. gardnerianus, inferring
that it is the tallest herbaceous Phyllanthus spp among the collected ones. Broad leaves were observed in P. rheedei and longest leaflets
in P. virgatus var. gardnerianus and P. virgatus var. virgatus.
Key words: Phyllanthus spp., Kerala, harbaceous, morphology
Introduction
The genus Phyllanthus L. belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae,
consists of about 833 species (Govaerts et al., 2000) and is chiefly
distributed in moist humid tropics. Eight species of herbaceous
Phyllanthus have been identified from Kerala. The herbs known
as Bhumiamalaki, refer to a complex group of various Phyllanthus
species (Chowdhary and Rao, 2002). Although these species
closely resemble each other, they show sufficient characters
to maintain them as distinct species. Confusion exists in
identification of these herbaceous Phyllanthus species, mainly due
to their similarity in gross morphology, close proximity in growth
habitat as well as referring them with a common vernacular
name, ‘Kizharnelli’. The most wide spread species, Phyllanthus
amarus, is widely distributed in all tropical regions of the world.
Other commonly occurring Phyllanthus species of Kerala are,
Phyllanthus airy-shawii Brunel & Roux, Phyllanthus urinaria L.,
Phyllanthus virgatus G. Forst. var. virgatus, Phyllanthus rheedei
Wight, Phyllanthus maderaspatensis L. and Phyllanthus virgatus
G. Forst. var. gardnerianus (Ganeshaiah et al., 1998).
P. amarus is widely used in the Indian Systems of Medicine for its
well known medicinal properties including problems of stomach,
genitourinary systems, liver, kidney and spleen (Patel et al., 2011).
The whole extract of P. maderaspatensis is reported to show
antihepatotoxic, hepatoprotective and cholerectic activities (Asha
and Pushpangadan, 1998). P. kozhikodianus provides protection
to liver against chemical induced liver damage. The plant extracts
of P. rheedei have been analysed for pharmacognostic properties
and it was shown to be hepatoprotective (Thyagarajan et al.,
2002). The ethanolic extract of the herb, P. urinaria has antiinflammatory and antioxidant activity (Fang et al., 2008). The
properties are exploited in herbal medicines.
P. amarus has been reported to possess two lignans namely
phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin obtained from the leaves of
the plant that has been noted to enhance the cytotoxic responses
with cultured multidrug-resistant cells (Somanabandhu, 1993).
According to Khatoon et al. (2006) phyllanthin is absent in P.
maderaspatensis. Tripathi et al. (2006) have reported that both
phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin, which is claimed to have
hepatoprotective activity, are present in P. amarus and P. fraternus
but the concentration of these two lignans varies substantially in
the two species. Sharma et al. (2011) have reported the absence
of phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin from P. maderaspatensis
and P. urinaria.
The wrong identification of medicinal plants leads to adulteration
in herbal drugs. Once the plant is dried and made into powder
form, it loses its morphological identity and is easily prone to
adulteration. Hence, morphological characterization ensures plant
identity, lays down standardization parameters which will help to
prevent adulteration and ensures reproducible quality of herbal
products which will lead to safety and efficacy of natural products.
Surveying agroclimatic zones of Kerala and characterizing natural
population of Phyllanthus spp. morphologically will ensure
correct identification and prevent erroneous conclusions regarding
their morphological identity.
Journal of Applied Horticulture (http://horticultureresearch.net)
Morphological characterization of herbaceous Phyllanthus spp.
31
Materials and methods
Accessions of Phyllanthus spp. were collected from different
agro ecological zones (high range, midland, coastal and plain) of
northern, central and southern zones of Kerala. The survey was
conducted in the three zones, namely, south, central and north.
Among the zones itself, further classification was done based
on altitude to study the influence of micro climate favouring a
habitat for Phyllanthus. Thus, the survey was intensively carried
out on the high ranges, plains, coastal and midlands regions
of all the zones. A total of forty seven Phyllanthus accessions
were collected from coastal, plains, midlands and high ranges
of southern, central and northern zones of Kerala (Table 1).
The collected accessions were raised in pots under uniform
environmental field conditions.
Both qualitative and quantitative characters were considered
for morphological characterization of fourty seven accessions.
NBPGR descriptor was used for characterization of Phyllanthus
accessions. Using the key characters of herbaceous Phyllanthus
spp. described in Flora of Madras presidency (Gamble, 19151936), the collected accessions where decoded in to respective
Phyllanthus spp.
Fig. 1. Variability in leaflet size
observed to have oblong leaflet shape, round leaflet apex and
round leaflet base. This variation may be due to the influence of
microclimate prevailing at high altitude areas. Dark green, light
green and purple green stem colour and faintly mucronate to
mucronate leaf apices were observed for the collected accessions
of P. urinaria. The purple stem colour may be due to the low
availability of sunlight in growing premises. Agarwal et al. (2013)
also reported the influence of environment on the genotype of the
species, as the reason for morphovariants in Ocimum spp. The
accession of P. maderaspatensis had obcordate leaf apex, which
is not noticed in other collected accessions of Phyllanthus spp.
Hence, this character may be unique to this species. Sasidharan
(2004) has also observed this character in P. maderaspatensis.
Table 1. Details of survey and collection
Southern zone
Central zone
Northern zone
Season of collection
Coastal region
Plains
Midlands
High ranges
Total number of accessions
July, 2014
Chavakkad
Guruvayur
Mannuthy
Athirapally
14
July, 2014
Bekal
Thekkil, Thachangad, Periyattadukkam
Adivaaram
Kallur, Kuruva, Puthurvayal
17
August, 2014
Shankumukham, Valiyathura
Thambanoor
Nedumangad
Palode
16
Results and discussion
Much intraspecific and interspecific variations were noticed
within the collected accessions of Phyllanthus spp. Phyllanthus
accessions collected were found to have erect growth habit with
non-spreading branching pattern. Two types of stem shapes viz.,
terete and angular and capsule texture viz., rough and smooth
types were found. Entire leaf margin was noticed in all the
Phyllanthus spp. Flower colour was pale green and capsule colour
was yellowish green in all the accessions. Observed shape of
capsule was depressed globose (Table 2).
Notable variation was noted in qualitative characters like stem
colour, leaflet colour, rachis colour, leaflet shape, leaflet apex and
leaflet base among Phyllanthus accessions (Fig. 1, 2) (Table 2).
P. amarus, accessions, were found to have oblong leaflet shape,
obtuse apex and round base, while, those from high ranges were
P. amarus, P. airy-shawii and P. rheedei were observed to
have terete stem shape, while, rest of the collected species had
angular stem shape. These observations are in conformity with
species characterization of Phyllanthus based on morphological
parameters proposed by Khatoon et al. (2006). No considerable
variations were observed for the characters like, growth habit
(erect), branching pattern (spreading), leaf margin (entire),
capsule colour (yellowish green), capsule shape (depressed
globose), and flower colour (pale green), among the collected
seven Phyllathus spp (Table 2). Khatoon et al. (2006) have also
recorded similar observations for morphological characters
Phyllanthus spp. under study.
P. virgatus var. gardnerianus and P. virgatus var. virgatus were
observed to have longest pedicel length (1.0 cm), while rest of
the Phyllanthus species recorded 0.1 cm for the same character
Fig. 2. Variability in leaflet shape
Journal of Applied Horticulture (http://horticultureresearch.net)
32
Morphological characterization of herbaceous Phyllanthus spp.
Table 2. Morphological characters of Phyllanthus spp.
Growth and stem characters
Phyllanthus
species
P. amarus
Erect, non-spreading branching pattern, terete
stem shape, dark green or light green stem
colour, 32.5-37.5 cm, 15.4-17.2 pinnae per
plant, 31.1-33.1 leaflets per compound leaflet
Leaf characters
Fruit characters
Light green or dark green leaflet and
rachis colour, oblong shape with
obtuse apex and round base. 0.71-1.21
x 0.31-0.54 cm.
Yellowish green,
smooth, depressed
globose, pedicel
length, 0.1 cm
Flower
characters
Pale green
with five
sepals
P. urinaria
Erect, non-spreading branching pattern, terete
stem shape, dark green, light green or purple
stem colour, 22.1-28.8 cm, 9.5-10.3 pinnae per
plant and 20.1-21.2 leaflets per compound leaf.
Light green, dark green or purple
leaflet and rachis colour, oblong to
narrowly obovate leaflet with faintly
mucronate apex and obtuse or oblique
base. 0.81-1.42 x 0.22-0.62 cm
Yellowish green,
rough, depressed
globose, pedicel
length, 0.1 cm
Pale green
with six sepals
P. airy-shawii
Erect, non-spreading branching pattern, angular
stem shape, dark green or light green stem
colour, 41.1-46.1 cm, 19.9-21.8 pinnae per
plant and 32.3-36.6 leaflets per compound leaf
Erect, non-spreading branching pattern, angular
stem shape, dark green, light green stem or
brownish green stem colour, 85.4-87.4 cm,
30.2-30.6 pinnae per plant and 36.4-40.9
leaflets per compound leaf.
Erect, non-spreading branching pattern, angular
stem shape, dark green or light green stem
colour, 90.1 cm, 31.5 pinnae per plant and 36.8
leaflets per compound leaf
Light green or dark green leaflet and
rachis colour, elliptic to obovate leaflet
with acute or round leaflet apex and
acute base. 0.42-1.21x0.21-0.62 cm
Light green or dark green leaflet and
rachis colour, elliptic to narrowly
obovate to linear ovate leaflet with
acute apex and obtuse base.2.01-2.21
x 0.47-0.63
Light green or dark green leaflet and
rachis colour, linear ovate leaflet,
acute apex and obtuse base. 2.08 x
0.54 cm
Yellowish green,
smooth, depressed
globose, pedicel
length, 0.1 cm
Yellowish green,
smooth, depressed
globose, pedicel
length,1.0 cm
Pale green
with six sepals
Yellowish green,
smooth, depressed
globose, pedicel
length, 1.0 cm
Pale green
with six sepals
Erect, non-spreading branching pattern,
angular stem shape, dark green or light green
stem colour, 51.2-56.2 cm, 22.7-23.9 number
of pinnae per plant and 38.1-39.5 leaflets per
compound leaf.
Light green or dark green leaflet and
rachis colour, obovate leaflet with
obtuse apex and round base.1.21-1.71
x 1.03-1.32 cm
Yellowish green,
smooth, depressed
globose, pedicel
length, 0.1 cm
Pale green
with six sepals
Light green or dark green leaflet
and rachis colour, round leaflet with
obcordate apex and acute base. 1.51 x
0.63 cm
Yellowish green,
smooth, depressed
globose, pedicel
length, 0.1 cm
Pale green
with six sepals
P. virgatus var.
virgatus
P. virgatus var.
gardnerianus
P. rheedei
P.
Erect, non-spreading, angular stem shape, dark
maderaspatensis green or light green stem colour, 60.1 cm, 25.2
pinnae per plant and 37.5 leaflets per compound
leaf
Fig. 3. Variability in number of sepals
Pale green
with six sepals
(Fig. 4). Highest plant height were observed for P. virgatus var.
gardnerianus, collected from high ranges, inferring that, it is
the tallest herbaceous Phyllanthus species. Similar observations
with regard to P. virgatus var. virgatus and P. virgatus var.
gardnerianus is reported by Gamble and Fischer (1936). Broad
leaves were observed in P. rheedei and longest leaflets in P.
virgatus var. gardnerianus and P. virgatus var. virgatus (Fig. 2).
Udayan et al. (2005) reported the leaf size of P. rheedei as 2.5 x
1.5 cm, indicating the broad nature of leaves. The accessions of
P. urinaria recorded lowest stem length within and among the
zones and altitude. Except P. amarus, all other six Phyllanthus
Fig. 4. Variability in pedicel length
Journal of Applied Horticulture (http://horticultureresearch.net)
Morphological characterization of herbaceous Phyllanthus spp.
species have six sepals each, while P. amarus reported five sepals,
which indicate the unique characteristics of P. amarus (Fig. 3).
Kandavel et al. (2011) reported similar observations in P. amarus,
P. airy-shawii, P. maderaspatensis, P. virgatus var. virgatus.
The study revealed that much variations are existing among
the Phyllanthus spp. present in Kerala. The most wide spread
species of this genus, P. amarus, and other commonly occuring
herbaceous Phyllanthus species of Kerala, P. virgatus var.
virgatus, P.virgatus var. gardnerianus, P. rheedei, P. airy-shawii,
P. maderaspatensis and P. urinaria are morphologically vivid.
Microscopic characterization of the species is needed for more
validation. This will wipe out the taxonomic confusion exists in
identification of these herbaceous Phyllanthus spp., mainly due
to their similarity in gross morphology, close proximity in growth
habitat as well as referring them with a common vernacular
name, ‘Kizharnelli’. Such investigations will result in usage of
authenticate plant materials for the production of ayurvedic drugs,
and will enhance the efficacy of medication.
Acknowledgements
We thank faculty of Department of Plantation Crops and
Spices, Kerala Agricultural Universirty, and Dr. P.S. Udayan,
PG Department of Botany, SreeKrishna College, Guruvayur
(Thrissur), faculties of M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation,
Puthurvayal (Wayanad) and Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical
Garden and Research Institute, Palode (Thiruvananthapuram)
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Received: October, 2015; Revised: November, 2015;
Accepted: December, 2015
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