''Smithia purpurea'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of plant in the
family.
Description
A small annual herb with an erect stem that grows to a height of and has spreading branches. Leaves are pinnate, leaflets with a bristle at the tip. Flowers purple, about 1 cm across, occur in racemes of 6-12 flowers. The standard petal has two bright white dots.
Range
Western Ghats, India
Habitat
In open moist sunny areas on basaltic outcrops and is abundant on
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
mesas with an elevation of above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.
Ecology
In patches on open plateaux, banks of streamlets, road sides and farm bunds of Gghat regions. More frequently encountered near village environs and disturbed places.
Etymology
The genus is named after British botanist and physician Sir James Edward Smith and the specific epithet refers to the purple colour of the flower.
References
Flora of India (region)
Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker
Plants described in 1847
Dalbergieae
{{Dalbergieae-stub