• Family : RHAMNACEAE
  (Buckthorn Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BER FAMILY (बेर फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : RHAMNACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Ventilago maderaspatana Gaertn.
• Common name : Red creeper
• Vernacular name : Pitti (Hindi); Aithaala beelu (Kannada); Vempadankodi, Vempadam, Pappili (Tamil); Ettasurugudu, Ettashirattalativva, Surlaitige, Surudugudu (Telugu); Raktapita, Pichali, Petchurimal, Sajumalo, Torida, Petchuri, Raktakhai, Pitchule (Oria); Dineshvalli, Rakthavalli (Sanskrit); Vembada, Marapettykody (Malayalam)
• Habit : Liana
• Habitat : Moist deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests
• Comments / notes : In scrub jungles on foothills up to 1300m.
• Key identification features : Slender climbing shrub
• Flower, Fruit : December-April
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Chittoor district, Kurnool district, Kadapa district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district
  • Kerala : Wayanad district, Idukki district
  • Maharashtra : All districts of Maharashtra
  • Odisha : Sambalpur district, Mayurbhanj district
  • Tamil Nadu : All districts of Tamil Nadu
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Java, Malay Peninsula
• 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; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; 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=Ventilago maderaspatana. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

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Field Image(s)