Tag Archives: Galle District

Sonerila cordifolia Cogn.

Heart-leaved Sonerila (Sonerila cordifolia)

The Heart-leaved Sonerila, described in 1891, is, or perhaps was, endemic to the island of Sri Lanka, where it appears to have been restricted to a single locality in the moist lowland forest of Sinharaja in the Galle District.

The species was a small, about 15 to 25 cm tall, ascending herb with 0,5 to 2 cm long and 0,5 to 1,2 cm wide, somewhat heart-shaped leaves, it had few-flowered cymes with red flowers.

The Heart-leaved Sonerila is most likely extinct now. [1]

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References:

[1] Roger Lundin: Taxonomy of Snerila (Melastomataceae) in Ceylon. Nordic Journal of Botany 3: 633-656. 1983

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edited: 28.01.2020