Sphaeranthus


Sphaeranthus africanus L. (Images by Pudji Widodo (ID by Vijayasankar Raman) and Prashant Awale, Inserted by Gurcharan Singh (PLease click links to see details and more images))
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/80ac62d25103e7e/100_5298.JPG?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrEwCc2Bg_x2Z2jQg-j0bbxo2d2g-9OZL2vVDCtOa17McCPn4qw_UJ4h7MyZTW6fRAk6poNMgCQId3Q_owU7TVMc7eA3rdtbYCPyLmwIWF30PAKyvyQ
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/31e748eccf4baabb/IMG_5114.jpg?part=0.9&view=1&vt=ANaJVrEOYBGkCku9Eu58z9aiEZ68MbEvDoMVn1v68rv8yuLvVSzMVDkTkNHB_qs9dP5HiTogmxWUOfXjluGm7m-AkBlRDUgNBjvFeiPoCNNmpNBzprmC-LA
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/31e748eccf4baabb/IMG_5115.jpg?part=0.10&view=1&vt=ANaJVrFx5bbT3HxvwmBFAYndjQP5yZ5mC_XcimYrV6j9ASO2qsT7wm21bHAPBiR-wshARsSt_sjrJbQdMfQzcjGv-gfjwK7ftMq1F2h-nNPN-XJRh93Tbwo
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/31e748eccf4baabb/IMG_5028.jpg?part=0.5&view=1&vt=ANaJVrGQ7tmc6_gudq4rtPN9RhS3z0aWC9sbWpu6-oqRo0BEVwQS3R4tejNJ5P9mlgQ2f3-po0qWm5V-zPcX7Q5CmPbY9IcR4_ZuECOcqkeZEgaue3cR-Sg


Sphaeranthus indicus L. (Images by Balkar Singh, Surajit Koley, Dinesh Valke, Satish Phadke, Prashant Awale and Shobha Halwe-Chavda (ID by Nidhan Singh), Inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click links to see details and more images))
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/62e844cd47bde2f8/Sphaeranthus%20indicus%20L.%20%20(16).JPG?part=0.12&view=1&vt=ANaJVrFzwP3JJf3czFNF1WGbWHyGMTeYd3CVxn2YqvNdQgBXoNNkKq9gWXgnV01AJH0k8tVZGSKLUk34O-hBNu662xta8qVhdEkY3lwHHSqLZ8o9Da-WKoc
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/62e844cd47bde2f8/Sphaeranthus%20indicus%20L.%20%20(4).JPG?part=0.2&view=1&vt=ANaJVrGa9Lw3bBB_dYafU-7HaV7QElw8-Ll0jd56ubYZwoG0YOgyal-Ii4McHl88IurRCr5jzbU43saLBVXYDvbjAnNbBMSWvUcpZyGf5wbKisC97wkcoT0
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/a333c64fc3761466/Gorakh%20Mundi2.jpg?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrEQm3napg_Gs7FQ3g2VCKXViL0z42t1mN5-QgncjeCexuZDi7VWyMcopklOhdufba6uq8RsROUM34h4mAlqDUXbNLdhK67rCMsUVuppD7sQCVeFQYg
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/738e938984d28c7c/Copy%20of%20Manas%20NP%20294.jpg?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrG1d_Vg1q3Ogx6nnnRNrT-E_jrFVSe-qLB_ObeiM5MrUotBXHDWTk-oJJXhvJh0_vMpOJ8r4n2X9lkUg11LWshB1JKto4VwE0yCScCuLIcBKDo18UY
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/e2bc441218634d8/set1_DSCN0625.jpg?part=0.6&view=1&vt=ANaJVrH90VfykgqgGOqZNyvu1eUJSJVS0ny0R24GVx77pUXwrJ-S48jISMtLxcAnBAQqlPJn4U2AroR8kPwN9Jj8gPrre5wdYGdmAFdN4kP06TgrVvH06lc
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/e2bc441218634d8/set1_DSCN0621.jpg?part=0.3&view=1&vt=ANaJVrHylwq_TnrWxT68JeSXCJ68t0KiEkHmWpLABzKzPmWIw8LK_B3k4x5dppQxkV3nt63podJJrncMUEOFTj_olaCwVd1OfqZhtwbPcBff27e86KlBwKM











https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/k6QwKI72YnLp2RuM1SZkK7MsBv7aFti21naCpU01sGswnMp7yFrNIv4iqb35K1vvVR72GYht4AjurVWYpHkspTHK6QrwfNFC6h9B-ZXAiZh7=w5000-h5000
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/sYnc5JWu4maOVtStex7MnZ_ymVKFO1J-LgSMHHaDghNiJHsxMXsO-_FP2ci4gGkGWkmyd8OlAxi989COEi8f1woAIWRGec5agxAjTH3BZWnX=w5000-h5000
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/fb4a19c21a09c25/Sphaeranthus%20indicus.jpg?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrHi7f2sPx5cNITyZnLnMzTT-zLdCjymIuTP1VcWjIn4-Q4fQZ_0qqSI3gaYzGh1LF6JW3VONeTUymcrIstgmz27fu0ap9XB9qrjXoNv-gaJKdEDBOI
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/a333c64fc3761466/Gorakhmundi_4772.jpg?part=0.3&view=1&vt=ANaJVrGXAcFVJBaneoj-cfc0FmNG3vaf2h_uNOFH0hp7EwVZf1POG8-aCdrMLqgP8eK3wiLJzMa4UvM65dDLK5i2uoMkPWeUo4YprZR6cTjlcYeyH3tlAvY











Sphaeranthus senegalensis DC. (Images by Balkar Singh, Inserted by Gurcharan Singh (Please click link to see details)) 
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/cc5f0c6ec22197b1/IMG_2281.jpg?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrHgxOErX704m-267nvkXaUYtfwK82cabSQiDrZGJ-1hBDbm3vzjShYdYPE7bMJuOil02LIVeBMVm5xQsQkr2-QJ4rep9rwuLHc8sQWOTnpqAvuxCRg
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/c5cb05027fc32c4e/Sphaeranthus%20indicus%20(2).JPG?part=0.2&view=1&vt=ANaJVrG6LMYrafjva_KXx1UDVTtN1Yay6eVbmlbmiXrDE8p8PeAKsLkk2qr5gypF1106j7Ew09LXOjWRADH0DqMO5t47_gTYImpi-uYxQ81dunqEp7czPlc
https://08511630493324166816.googlegroups.com/attach/c5cb05027fc32c4e/Sphaeranthus%20indicus%20(1).JPG?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrFn3YS8hQe1_RUKqflsG2zlhFCij4aY6E9e0WrJJhqniawKNKmzTN7LySungKNapgWKnrCoOi1RiEu_C84zowIEsaIEJtWFiPOraFXdT9eccjTjLEU


Sphaeranthus species in India:
  1. Sphaeranthus africanus L.
  2. S. amaranthoides Burm.f.
  3. S. indicus L.
  4. S. senegalensis DC.

References

  1. Karthikeyan, S., Sanjappa, M. and Moorthy, S. 2009. Flowering Plants of India, Dicotyledons, vol-I (Acanthaceae- Avicenniaceae). Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata. pp.277.

Given below are the relevant key characters from Flora of India:
a. Stems not winged ---> Sphaeranthus amaranthoides
b. Stems winged:
b-i) wings entire; flower-heads <1 cm across ---> S. africanus
b-ii) wings toothed; heads up to 2.5 cm across; leaves single-dentate ---> S. senegalensis
In S. indicus, the leaves are double-dentate.

Keys
 1a. Stems not winged or rarely narrowly winged; glomeruli conical, subsessile, brownish; outer florets not more than 4 --------2. Sphaeranthus amaranthoides
b. Stems winged; glomeruli spherical or ovoid, pedunculate, glabrous, white, purple or violet; outer florets more than 4 --------2
2a. Wings entire, glomeruli not more than 1 cm across; peduncles glabrous; involucral bracts not ciliate at apex -----------------1. Sphaeranthus africanus
b. Wings toothed; glomeruli up to 2.5 cm across, peduncles pubescent; involucral bracts ciliate at apex    --------------------------3
3a. Leaves double-dentate and with stalked glands ----------Sphaeranthus indicus
b. Leaves single dentate and with sessile glands -------------Sphaeranthus senegalensis
(Ref. Flora of India Vol.13-Asteraceae (Inuleae-Vernonieae) By R.K. Hajra et al.1995. BSI, India) 
 

Pl. go through Sphaeranthus (‎‎Asteraceae (Compositae)‎) page with images of species (done by ...) in efloraofindia.

If you find any mis-identification, pl. let us know. If anybody can send images of other species of this genera (for incorporation in the website), if any, it will be really nice.

Also, if anybody is interested to take up the activity of inserting images on efloraofindia pages from efloraofindia posts, pl. let us know.