''Wattakaka volubilis'', synonyms including ''Dregea volubilis'', is a species of plant in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of ...

that is native from north-east

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

eastwards to south China and southwards to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Regional names

"Kodippaalai" in Tamil, "wattakakka" in Malayalam, "gwedauk" () in Myanmar (Burmese).

Description

A stout tall climber, branches often pustular, with: * Leaves: 3–6 inches long by 2–4 inches broad, rather coriaceous, base rounded or cordate ; nerves 4–6 pairs ; petiole 1–3 inches. * Peduncles: 1–3 inches, rather slender ; umbels drooping, very many-flowered, subglobose; pedicals 1/2 inch, slender. * Corolla: 1/2 inch diameter, cupular, lobes triangular. * Stigma dome-shaped. * Follicles: 3/4 inch long by 1–1 and half inch diameter, broadly lanceolate, turgid, glabrous. * Seeds: 2 inch long, broadly ovate, pale, smooth and shining, border thick. File:Dregea volubilis (L.f.) Benth. ex Hook.f. (48922285613).jpg , Climber File:WattakakaCreeperPune 04.jpg, Bush File:Sneezing_Silk_(5893850775).jpg, Inflorescence File:Dregea volubilis fruits at Madayipara (1).jpg, Fruit

Distribution

''Wattakaka volubilis'' has a very wide distribution in south China and tropical Asia. It is found throughout the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

(the Assam region,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, the east and west

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, the rest of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

and Sri Lanka); in southeast and south-central China and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

; throughout

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

(the Andaman Islands,

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, Laos,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, the Nicobar Islands,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

); and in parts of

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. Th ...

(

, Malaya and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

). In India, the plant is distributed from Northwest India to Bengal, Assam and the Deccan Peninsula, and southwards from the Konkan. In Sri Lanka, it occurs in the hotter parts of the island.

References

Asclepiadoideae Flora of South-Central China Flora of Southeast China Flora of Taiwan Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Indo-China Flora of Java Flora of Malaya Flora of the Philippines {{Apocynaceae-stub