A mat plant of mountain paramos from Guatemala to Peru. Referred to as Tomatillo Sylvestre, when referred to at all. Photo from Parque los Quetzales, Costa Rica. In context at www.dixpix.ca/meso_america/Flora/spuds/index.html
close up image of Gentiana puberulenta PRAIRIE GENTIAN at the James Woodworth Prairie Preserve - a flower head with all stages of bloom visible in several flowers
Family: LoganiaceaeDistribution: Common in dry deciduous forests in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and China.5-8m tll deciduous trees. Stem bark ash colored, smooth.Leaves 5-8x3-5cm orbicular-ovate, coriaceous, base attenuate, entire, 3 nerves prominenet.Flowers 2-2.5 cm long, 5-8mm across, greenish yellow or greenish white,in short axillary cymes. Berries 3-5 cm across, pericarp thick, hard,orrange when ripe,pulp white, seeds 2 ashy-grey, compressed.Stem bark is used as fish poison, seeds are used in ulcers, dysentry and fevers. Fruit is poisonous.Photographed at Eastern ghats of Nellore district.Ref: Flora of Presidency of Madras, by J.S.Gamble.
This is a gift of South Africa, which has been planted and naturalized through the warmer parts of the world. It is popular partly for its scented flowers, and partly for its edible fruit, which has a cranberry taste and is known in Africa as Num-num.