• Family : GENTIANACEAE
  (Gentian Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BHUIN NEEM FAMILY
• Family (as per The APG System III) : GENTIANACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Exacum tetragonum Roxb.; Exacum perrottetii Griseb.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Exacum tetragonum Roxb.
• Common name : Bicolor Persian Violet
• Vernacular name : Bara charayata (Hindi); Kannamthali (Malayalam)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Grasslands and laterite hills, and shola borders
• Flower, Fruit : September-January
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Vishakapatnam district, East Godavari district, Srikakulam district, West Godavari district
  • Karnataka : Belagavi district, Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Kolar district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district
  • Odisha : Mayurbhanj district, Ganjam district
  • Tamil Nadu : Salem district, Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Theni district
• Native : India
• Endemism : Peninsular India
• World Distribution : India
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1996- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; 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., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Ravichandran, V. 2016. Taxonomic and Phytogeographical investigation on endemic plants of Western Ghats with special reference to Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu (Ph.D. thesis work); Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 – Flora of Hassan district; Gowda, 2004 – Flora of Sringeri; Rao & Razi, 1981 – A Synoptic Flora of Mysore district; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 – Flora of Coorg District; N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka; 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=Exacum bicolor. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)