Cultivation Details
HabitDeciduous Shrub
Growth—
The plant is strongly aromatic[3]. The flower spikes resemble hops in shape and size, and are covered with a visid resinous exudation called Mel, having a musky and resinous odour[3]. The plant only flowers once every several years. Each year the plant comes into active growth with the advent of the monsoon,and once the rains are over, what is left behind is dry and dead-looking stems.This pattern repeats itself for around seven to nine years until the plant eventually explodes into a mass flowering and the stems die[4]..
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Strobilanthes+callosa>
Pollinators
Bees
References
- [1]Indian Medicinal Plants; An Illustrated Dictionary — Khare C.P. (Ed.) · Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg · 2007 · ISBN 978-0-387-70637-5 ↩︎
- [2]BoDD (Botanical Dermatology Database) — http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/ ↩︎Brief notes on a very wide range of plants that have reports of causing harm to the skin.
- [3]Indian Medicinal Planta — Kirkitar K.R.; Basu B.D. & Indian Civil Service · Sudhindra Nath Basu, BahadurGanj; India · 1918 ↩︎
- [4]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
- [5]Indian Trees - an account of trees, shrubs, woody climbers and palms indigenous or commonly cultivated — Brandis D. · Archibald Constable & Co Ltd; London · 1906 ↩︎Rather dated, but a fine work that still contains relevant information
- [6]The Silviculture of Indian Trees — Troup. R.S. · Oxford, at the Clarendon Press · 1921 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎An excellent treatment.