• Family : AMARANTHACEAE
  (Amaranth Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : GARUNDI FAMILY (गरूण्डी फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : AMARANTHACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Alternanthera echinata Sm.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Alternanthera pungens Kunth
• Common name : Khaki Weed
• Vernacular name : Kante vali santi (Hindi); Mullu honagonne (Kannada); Ottaramul, Thevadiyalmul (Tamil); Ottara mul, Thevadiyaal (Malayalam); Mulluponnaganti (Telugu)
• Habit : Herb
• Comments / notes : Often in plains to 1000m. In the crevices of stone pavements in plantations. Sometimes as an abundant weed of cultivation.
• Key identification features : Prostrate herb
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mehboobnagar district
  • Karnataka : All districts of Karnataka
  • Kerala : Kannur district, Wayanad district, Palakkad district, Idukki district, Kottayam district, Alappuzha district
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Angul district, Balasore district, Bargarh district, Bolangir district, Boudh district, Cuttack district, Deogarh district, Dhenkanal district, Gajapati district, Ganjam district, Kalhandi district, Kandhamal district, Kendrapara district, Keonjhar district, Khurda district, Koraput district, Malkangiri district, Mayurbhanj district, Puri district, Rayagada district, Sambalpur district, Sundergarh district
  • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Dindigul district, Dharmapuri district, Kanchipuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Karur district, Krishnagiri district, Madurai district, Namakkal district, Pudukkottai district, Sivaganga district, Salem district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tiruvannamalai district, Villipuram district, Vellore district
• Native : America, a wide-spread weed in Tropics and subtropics
• World Distribution : Tropics & sub-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 and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; 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 – Flora of Hassan; Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi; Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 -Flora of Bangalore; Seetharam et al., 2000 – Flora of Gulbarga; Rao & Razi, 1981 – Flora of Mysore; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 – Flora of Coorg; 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=Alternanthera pungens. Downloaded on 20 May 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

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Field Image(s)