• Family : AMARANTHACEAE
  (Amaranth Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : GARUNDI FAMILY (गरूण्डी फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : AMARANTHACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Aerva lanata (L.)Juss.
• Common name : Polpola
• Vernacular name : Gorakhganja, Chaya (Hindi); Bili suli gida, Bili hindi gida (Kannada); Koolappoo, Polaippoo (Tamil); Pashanabedha (Sanskrit); Kapuri-Maduri (Marathi); Cherula, Cherupula, Cheruvula, Peela, Pongalpoovu (Malayalam); Lopong arak, Pansia (Oria); Telaga pindi kura, Pindi kura (Telugu)
• Habit : Herb
• Comments / notes : Often on plains to 1200m. On wayside in poor soil, sun-exposed places and fallow lands.
• Flower, Fruit : August-January
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : All districts of Andhra Pradesh
  • Karnataka : All districts of Karnataka
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Common in forests and wayside
  • Tamil Nadu : All districts of Tamil Nadu
• World Distribution : Tropics of the World
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan; Saldanha, 1984; Gowda, 2004 - Sringeri; Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Flora of Bangalore district, Karnataka state; Seetharam et al., 2000 - Gulbarga; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere
• 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=Aerva lanata. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

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