Abrus pulchellus Wall. ex Thwaites

 
  • Family : FABACEAE
    (Pea Or Bean Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Fabaceae
  • Subfamily : Faboideae
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Abrus melanospermus subsp. melanospermus
  • Vernacular name :
    • Valiya kaattumuthira (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Climbing shrub
  • Habitat : Tropical semi-evergreen forests, Tropical moist deciduous forests, Tropical dry deciduous forests, plains
  • Key identification features : A wiry climber; podsflat and seed compressed, black
  • Flower, Fruit : August-March
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : Krishna district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, Chittoor district
    • Karnataka : Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Davanagere district, Hassan district, Tumakuru district
    • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district
    • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Tirunelveli district
    • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
    • Sikkim : Sikkim
    • West Bengal : Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri
    • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman Islands
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, China, Hainan, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, China, Hainan, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1
    • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan
    • Saldanha, 1984
    • Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi
    • Bhaskar & Kushalappa, 2013- Flora of Tumkur District
    • Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Abrus pulchellus
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Abrus pulchellus. Downloaded on 30 January 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

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