Pictures posted by me and Gurcharan ji in this thread are belong to the 'purple' variety. The stems, fruits and sometimes leaves have the coloration. These are always cultivated and i have not seen in wild.
This purple form is botanically known as Basella rubra (Synonym: Basella alba var. rubra). The green form of 'pasalai keerai' is wild and all parts (lvs, stems, fruits) of the plant are green. It is Basella alba (or B. alba var. alba). Regards Vijayasankar Raman, Ph.D. Post Doctoral Research Associate National Center for Natural Products Research Thad Cochran Research Center University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS 38677 Phone: +1 662 915 1018 On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 1:51 PM, Jency Samuel <jencysam...@yahoo.co.in>wrote: > What's the name of the purple-leaved variety of the same 'pasalai > keerai' (in Tamil) called? > > --- On *Wed, 5/1/11, Vijayasankar <vijay.botan...@gmail.com>* wrote: > > > From: Vijayasankar <vijay.botan...@gmail.com> > Subject: [efloraofindia:59215] Fruits & Vegetables Week: RVS-11 > To: "indiatreepix" <indiantreepix@googlegroups.com> > Date: Wednesday, 5 January, 2011, 4:35 AM > > > Basella rubra, at FRLHT's garden. Leaves used as green vegetable. It is > also a medicinal plant. > > > Regards > > ---------------------------------------------------- > Vijayasankar Raman, Ph.D. > Post Doctoral Research Associate > National Center for Natural Products Research > Thad Cochran Research Center > University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS 38677 > Phone: +1 662 915 1018 > > >
