Giving name in Tamil to Dicliptera foetida (Forssk.) Blatt.

[Dinesh Valke]

Dear Vijayasankar ji,
Please check whether we can give a name to Dicliptera foetida (Forssk.) Blatt. on lines of the English descriptive name "stinking foldwing" given by dear Tabish (Flowers of India) - the name is derived from the scientific name. As of now, there seems to be no name given to this species in Tamil.

You may suggest a better name; need not be on lines of the English descriptive name.

Regards.
Dinesh

[J.M. Garg]

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With regards,
J.M.Garg

[Vijayasankar Raman]

Dear Dinesh ji,

I did some research on this but couldn't find a generic Tamil name (equivalent to "foldwing") for the genus Dicliptera. In fact most species in the genus lack vernacular names. As you know, the bi-lipped corolla (if "foldwing" refers to this feature) is common in many genera in Acanthaceae. I am not sure of any specific characteristics of this plant that can be used in naming it. Is the plant really stinky?

The more common species, Dicliptera cuneata is called Karunkurundhu கருங்குருந்து or Thaen kurinji தேன் குறிஞ்சி (=sweet / honey Strobilanthes) in Tamil. If the plant D. foetida is notably foetid, then we can probably call it something like "Mudainaari kurundhu" முடைநாறி குருந்து. But, I am not sure if "kurundhu" can be treated as a generic name for Dicliptera as this name is also applied to Atalantia monophylla. "Mudainaari kurinji" முடைநாறி  குறிஞ்சி is another option. But the name kurinji or kurinci, although generally referring to Strobilanthes, is also given to different species from multiple genera (ref. FRLHT database).

Best regards,

Vijayasankar

[Dinesh Valke]

Dear Vijayasankar ji,

Thanks very much for the clarity. I understand, it becomes challenging to coin a name in regional language.

So we will let it stay without any name, instead of giving a kind of ambiguous name.

Thank you very much.

Regards.

Dinesh