• 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) : Pavonia odorata Willd.
• Common name : Three lobed False Mallow
• Vernacular name : Balarakshi gida (Kannada); Peramutti (Tamil); Iruveli (Malayalam)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Habitat : Dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Common in distrurbed forests, hedges of forests. Petals turn pink soon after pressing. Plant is used as vermifuge and purgative.
• Flower, Fruit : August-February
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 21-11-2009; 13-12-2014
• Collection Nos : FAP 36949; HJCB-E-214
• Collection Locality : Batrepalli, Anantapur district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : All districts of Andhra Pradesh
  • Karnataka : Kolar district, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) district
  • Maharashtra : Chandrapur district, Konkan
  • Tamil Nadu : All hills of Tamil Nadu
• World Distribution : Paleotropics
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; 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=Pavonia odorata. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)