• 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) : Malachra capitata (L.) L.
• Vernacular name : Ran-bhendi, Ran-ambadi (Marathi)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Habitat : Wastelands and swampy areas
• Comments / notes : Common
• Flower, Fruit : April-December
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district
  • Kerala : Kozhikode district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Alappuzha district
  • Maharashtra : Nagpur district, Bhandara district, Mumbai Suburban district, Chandrapur district, Kolhapur district, Nagpur district, Nanded district, Pune district, Raigad district, Ratnagiri district, Thane district
  • Odisha : Cuttack district, Sambalpur district, Subarnapur district, Puri district
  • Tamil Nadu : Shevaroy Hills (Salem district), Dharmapuri district, Kanchipuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, The Nilgiri district, Villipuram district, Vellore district, Cuddalore district, Tirunelveli district
• Native : Tropical America
• World Distribution : Introduced in old World
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; 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; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
• 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=Malachra capitata. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)