Withania somnifera
Summary 6
Withania somnifera, known commonly as ashwagandha,Indian ginseng,poison gooseberry, or winter cherry, is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family. Several other species in the genus Withania are morphologically similar. It is used as an herb in Ayurvedic medicine.
Description 7
Erect subshrub or woody based perennial to 1.5 m. Stems tomentose. Leaves: lamina 4-10 × 3-7 cm, ovate, stellate-tomentose, glabrescent; base cuneate; margin entire. Flowers 4-16 in a cluster. Corolla greenish, tomentose externally. Fruit a berry, 8-10 mm in diameter, spherical, glossy, scarlet, enclosed within an enlarged accrescent calyx, c. 2 cm in fruit.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Roger Culos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Withania_somnifera_MHNT.BOT.2012.10.13.jpg
- (c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/images/15/150500-7.jpg
- (c) Ingrid P. Lin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10303440
- (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://images.dev.morphbank.net/?id=799783&imgType=jpg
- (c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/images/15/150500-1.jpg
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withania_somnifera
- (c) Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/30287325
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- African Plants - a photo guide
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Calflora
- CalPhotos
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Jepson eFlora
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- World Flora Online
