• Family : MALVACEAE
  (Mallow Or Hibiscus Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : GURHAL FAMILY (गुड़हल फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : MALVACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Hibiscus cannabinus L.
• Common name : Hemp, Kenap, Mesta Deccan Hemp
• Vernacular name : Pitva, Ambari, Kudrung, Pittora, Patsan (Hindi); Gonguru, Pundi (Kannada); Pulichai, Pulimanji (Tamil); Gogu, Gongkura, Gaynaru (Telugu); Kanuriya, Kudrunga (Oria); Ambadi, Ambada (Marathi)
• Habit : Shrub
• Comments / notes : Cultivated and often runs wild. Leaves edible. The stem-bark yeilds a very valuable fibre similar to jute which is used commercially.
• Flower, Fruit : September-January
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Throughout Andhra Pradesh
  • Odisha : All district of Odisha
  • Tamil Nadu : All districts of Tamil Nadu
• Native : Africa
• World Distribution : Tropical & sub-Tropical regions of the World
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; Franklin Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy, 2013. Flora of Sri Venkateswara National Park, Andhra Pradesh, BSI.; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
• 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=Hibiscus cannabinus. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)