• Family : ACANTHACEAE
  (Acanthus Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : ARUSA FAMILY (अडूसा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : ACANTHACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Gendarussa vulgaris Nees
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Justicia gendarussa Burm. f.
• Common name : Daun Rusa, Gandarusa, Water-willow
• Vernacular name : Udisambhalu (Hindi); Karinekki (Kannada); Vaataghni (Sanskrit); Karunochi, Karinochil, Vathakodi, Vathamkolli (Malayalam); Nela vavili, Gandha rasamu, Nalla vaili, Nalla nochali (Telugu)
• Habit : Shrub
• Habitat : Planted along hedges; frequently runs wild
• Comments / notes : In the wild it runs by streams and other moist places of deciduous forests
• Flower, Fruit : December-May
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Vishakapatnam district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nizamabad district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Odisha : Mayurbhanj district
  • Tamil Nadu : Dindigul district
• Native : China
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Malaccas, Malaysia, Philippines, China
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Justicia gendarussa. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

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