• 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) : Urena lobata L.
• Common name : Caesar weed, Aramina Fibre, Congo Jute
• Vernacular name : Ottatti (Tamil); Bachita, Unga, Lapetva, Pithia (Hindi); Doddabende, Kadututti (Kannada); Pedda benda (Telugu); Chikimiammanji, Rakta pheni, Bilokapasira (Oria); Cheli, Kuruvachedi, Oorppan, Uthiram, Uram, Vattooram (Malayalam)
• Habit : Undershrub
• Habitat : Degraded forests, also in the plains and semi-Evergreen forests
• Comments / notes : Common on hills up to 1400m by arable lands, waysides and also in wastelands
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Collector(s) Name : Arun Singh, Raja K. Swamy & Navendu Page
• Collection Date : 27/02/2016
• Collection Nos : HJCB-E-329
• Collection Locality : Barbera forest, Khurda district (OD)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district, Krishna district, Guntur district, Prakasam district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : Nagpur district, Amravati district, Bhandara district, Kolhapur district, Nagpur district, Pune district, Raigad district, Ratnagiri district, Satara district, Sindhudurg district, Thane district
  • Odisha : Throughout Odisha
  • Tamil Nadu : All districts of Tamil Nadu
• World Distribution : Pantropical
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; 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=Urena lobata subsp. lobata. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)