• Family : CAPPARACEAE
  (Caper Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : KARIL FAMILY (करील फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : CAPPARACEAE
• Basionym : Cleome fruticosa L.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Cadaba fruticosa (L.) Druce
• Common name : Indian cadaba
• Vernacular name : Kegnike, Maragacha (Kannada); Minnakeerai, Kadagatthi, Vizhuthi, Izhuthi (Tamil); Adamornika (Telugu); Kattakatti, Vizhoothi (Malayalam); Kali takali, Kalasakal, Kali taka (Marathi)
• Habit : Shrub (Straggling)
• Comments / notes : Common in arid regions and scrub jungles up to 500m. Leaves and roots are antihelmenthic.
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mehboobnagar district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district, Chamarajanagar district, Kolar district
  • Kerala : Idukki district
  • Maharashtra : All districts in deciduous forests
  • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Dindigul district, Dharmapuri district, Kanchipuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Karur district, Krishnagiri district, Madurai district, Namakkal district, Pudukkottai district, Sivaganga district, Salem district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tiruvannamalai district, Villipuram district, Vellore district
• World Distribution : India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Yemen
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Franklin Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy, 2013. Flora of Sri Venkateswara National Park, Andhra Pradesh, BSI.; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1; 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=Cadaba fruticosa. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

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