• Family : FABACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : Fabaceae
• Subfamily : Faboideae
• Synonym(s) : Crotalaria herniarioides Wight & Arn.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Crotalaria medicaginea Lam.
• Common name : Trefoil Rattlepod
• Vernacular name :
  • Gulali (Hindi)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Open deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : On poor soil up to 900m and on rocky slopes of scrub jungles.
• Key identification features : Prostrate slender herb; Flowers yellow, in racemes; Pods globose, pubescent.
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Collector(s) Name : Arun Singh, K. Sankara Rao, Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 26/11/2015
• Collection Nos : HJCB-0415
• Collection Locality : Koundinya WLS, Chittoore district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district, Guntur district, Kurnool district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, Srikakulam district, Chittoor district
  • Karnataka : Vijayapura (Bijapur) district, Chikkamagaluru district, Chitradurga district, Mysuru district, Raichur district, Tumakuru district
  • Kerala : Idukki district
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Cuttack district, Ganjam district
  • Tamil Nadu : Dharmapuri district, Vellore district, Tiruvannamalai district, Tiruchirapalli district, Kancheepuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Salem district, Villipuram district, Cuddalore district
  • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • West Bengal : 24-Parganas
  • Himachal Pradesh : Chamba district, Shimla district
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
  • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
  • Assam : Assam
  • Nagaland : Nagaland
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Punjab : Punjab
  • Rajasthan : Jaisalmer district, Barmer district, Bikaner district, Jodhpur district
  • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
  • Lakshadweep : Lakshadweep
• Native : Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Gulf States, India, Jawa, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Gulf States, India, Jawa, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature :
  • 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
  • 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
  • Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnatka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi
  • Sharma B.D, 1984 - Flora of Karnataka Analysis
  • N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka
  • Kamble & Pradhan, 1988. Flora of Akola District, Maharashtra. Botanical Survey of India
  • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Flora of Himachal Pradesh. Volume 1, Botanical Survey of India, 1984. Pg.: 196
• Read more :
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Crotalaria medicaginea
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Crotalaria medicaginea. Downloaded on 23 February 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution