Abstract            Volume:12  Issue-8  Year-2024         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

>Barleria is an attractive small evergreen shrub, 60 to 150 cm in height, being loaded with bell shaped beautiful flowers in the rainy season and tolerates regular pruning. Barleria belongs to the family Acanthaceae and it is reported that it has about 230 species. The plant blooms almost throughout the year. Though the flower is not having aroma it is very popular because of its attractive range of beautiful colours. This plant is named after the French botanist, J. Barleria during 17^th century. Its vernacular names in Hindi are jhate, and in Kannada it is called spatika, mullu jaji or gorate and in Telugu it is called as ‘Decembarala poolu’. It is native to India and Africa and is grown in many tropical and subtropical countries as a wild plant, out of which the majority are developed in Africa. But in India it is grown on commercial scale and there are 21 species spread over the hills of Bengal, the Deccan Plateau, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and the north-eastern Himalayan region. Flowers of Barleria are used for making garlands, ceremonial offerings and hair decorations by ladies. Plants are used in mixed borders; ornamental hedges and it is also used for fencing due to the presence of spines. The economic importance of Barleria, their species and botanical description and cultivation for loose flower production played a key role for commercial production by growers.

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