• Family : NYCTAGINACEAE
  (THE FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY )
• Family (as per The Plant List) : Nyctaginaceae
• Species : Boerhavia diffusa
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Boerhavia diffusa L.
• Common name : Common Hogweed, Spreading Hogweed, Pigweed, Gorgon, Prickly Water Lily
• Vernacular name : Beshakapore, Gadhaparna, Patarchetta (Hin.); Punarnava, Adakaputtana gida (Kan.); Mookkaratti, Saarai (Tam.); Guodapuruni, Kharkharia, Parni, Kechna, Atikapudi sag (Ori.); Punarnava (San.)
• Key identification features : A perennial spreading herb with simple, opposite leaves. Flowers are tiny about 0.5 cm across and are aggregated at the apex of elongated inflorescence.
• Habit : Herb
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the Year
• Comments : Often on hills to 1000 m. Common on the wayside, wastelands and even on poor soil. A low altitude replacement of Boerhavia chinensis (L.) Asch. & Schweinf.
• Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
• Distribution Locality : Throughout Eastern Ghats
• World Distribution : Pantropical
• Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3 ; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District ; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipal, Orissa; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Boerhavia diffusa. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Description

Line Drawings

Field Images