''Indotristicha ramosissima'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

belonging to the family

Podostemaceae Podostemaceae (riverweed family), a family in the order Malpighiales, comprise about 50 genera and species of more or less thalloid aquatic herbs. Distribution and habitat They are found mostly in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. Ma ...

. It is the sole species in genus ''Indotristicha''. It is an aquatic annual or perennial endemic to southwestern

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 ...

. It is widespread in rivers flowing from the Western Ghats in southwestern India, in the states of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, and can be locally abundant. The genus formerly contained a second species, ''Indotristicha tirunelveliana'' . It was placed into its own genus as '' Paradalzellia tirunelveliana'' in 2022.''Paradalzellia tirunelveliana'' (B.D.Sharma, Karthik. & B.V.Shetty) Koi, P.L.Uniyal & M.Kato
''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

''. Retrieved 12 May 2024.

References

{{Authority control Podostemaceae Podostemaceae genera Monotypic Malpighiales genera Endemic flora of the Western Ghats Plants described in 1852 Taxa named by Robert Wight