Vernacular names:
Aakasachedi, Elamulachi, Kalliyilachedi, ആകാശച്ചെടി, ഏലമുളച്ചി, കള്ളിയിലച്ചെടി (Malayalam), Air Plant, Miracle leaf (English), Amar poi (Hindi),
Distribution: Originally from Tropical Africa; now Pantropical
Description: Subsucculent tall herbs. Leaves decussate, simple, elliptic-ovate, 5-10 by 3-6 cm, base cuneate, margin deeply crenate, apex obtuse to rounded, herbaceous. Inflorescence a cymose panicle. Flowers pendulous; calyx tube lobed above the middle, lobes 4, triangular; corolla greenish, 8-folded, glandular within; stamens 8, inserted above the constriction of corolla; hypogynous scales 4; carpels 4; ovules many. Follicle enclosed with reddish calyx.
Habit: Herb
Habitat: Rocky areas in moist deciduous forests, also in the plains.
Flowering & Fruiting: December-March
Parts used: Leaves
Properties & Uses: Leaves are eaten for diabetes, diuresis, dissolving kidney stones, respiratory tract infections, as well as applied to wounds, boils, and insect bites.