• Family : ACANTHACEAE
  (Acanthus Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : ARUSA FAMILY (अडूसा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : ACANTHACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Acanthus ilicifolius L.
• Common name : Holly-leaved Acanthus; Holy mangrove.
• Vernacular name : Harkata, Hargoza (Hindi); Holesulli, Mulluchulli (Kannada); Chakkaramulli, Chulli, Mendli, Moranna, Muthalamookku, Paingachulli, Payinachhulli (Malayalam); Thillai, Chakkaramulli, Chulli (Tamil); Harkach, Holithi konti, Harkanchi, Kilichiri (Oria); Alisi, Alchi, Etichilla (Telugu)
• Habit : Shrub
• Habitat : Mangrove, marshy areas
• Comments / notes : Maritime marshes along the coast
• Flower, Fruit : November-July
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district
  • Karnataka : Dakshina Kannada district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : Thiruvananthapuram district, Alappuzha district, Thrissur district, Malappuram district,Kozhikode district, Kannur district, Kasaragod district, Ernakulam district, Kottayam district, Kollam district
  • Odisha : Balasore district, Kendrapara district, Cuttack district
• Native : Australia, India, Southeast Asia
• World Distribution : Indo-Malesia, Australia, South and Tropical Africa
• Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
• Literature : H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. ; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
• 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=Acanthus ilicifolius. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)