• Family : GENTIANACEAE
  (Gentian Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BHUIN NEEM FAMILY
• Family (as per The APG System III) : GENTIANACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Enicostemma hyssopifolium (Willd.) Verdoorn
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Enicostema axillare (Poir. ex Lam.) A.Raynal
• Vernacular name : Katvinayi, Chota chirayita (Hindi); Biliranjaka (Kannada); Vella ragu (Tamil); Vellaragu, Gulvidi, Nela-guli, Nelagulimidi (Telugu); Najajihva, Mamajjakah (Sanskrit)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Foothills, moist places of deciduous forests, near sea coasts and plains
• Flower, Fruit : July-November
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 13/12/2014
• Collection Nos : HJCB-E-378; KFP 9080, CS 6811
• Collection Locality : Batrepalli, Nigidi forest, Anantapur district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Kurnool district, Kadapa district, Chittoor district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district, Belagavi district, Vijayapura (Bijapur) district, Chitradurga district, Dharwad district, Mysuru district, Raichur district, Tumakuru district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Tamil Nadu : Dharmapuri district, Coimbatore district, Villipuram district, Tiruvannamalai district
• Native : India
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Tropical Africa, West Indies
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais 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; Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; Shahina, P.M. & Nampy, S 2014. Biosystematic Studies on Enicostema axillare (Lam.) A. Raynal subsp. axillare (Gentianaceae) in Peninsular India. Pak. Jour. Of Bio. Sci. 17 (5):696-702; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Seetharam et al., 2000 – Flora of Gulbarga district; Bhaskar & Kushalappa, 2013- Flora of Tumkur District; N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Kamble & Pradhan, 1988. Flora of Akola District, Maharashtra. Botanical Survey of India.
• 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=Enicostema axillare. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)