• Family : AIZOACEAE
  (Carpet-Weed Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : VISHAKHAPARA FAMILY
• Family (as per The APG System III) : GISEKIACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Gisekia pharnaceoides L.
• Common name : Sand Herbage
• Vernacular name : Balu-ka-sag (Hindi); Esaku darisoppu (Kannada); Manal keerai (Tamil); Isaka-dasari-kura, Isikedentikura, Ishi-rash kura, Isike chenchalaku (Telugu); Susni (Oria); Manalkeera (Malayalam)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Deciduous forests, plains, sandy sea coasts, wastelands and floor of drying tanks.
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Kurnool district, Chittoor district, Guntur district, West Godavari district, Srikakulam district
  • Karnataka : Bengaluru district, Vijayapura (Bijapur) district, Dakshina Kannada district, Mysuru district, Tumakuru district, Udupi district, Dakshina Kannada district
  • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Alappuzha district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Odisha : Puri district, Cuttack district, Ganjam district, Khurda district, Balasore district
  • Tamil Nadu : Salem district
• World Distribution : India, South Africa, Mascarene Islands, Sri Lanka
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2007 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 3; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi; Rao & Razi, 1981 – A Synoptic Flora of Mysore District; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 – Flora of Udupi District; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara; N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka
• 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=Gisekia pharnaceoides. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)