• Family : FABACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Faboideae
• Basionym : Hedysarum heterocarpon L.
• Synonym(s) : Hedysarum polycarpum Poir.; Desmodium polycarpum (Poir.) DC.; Desmodium patens Wight
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Grona heterocarpos (L.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi
• Common name : Asian Tick Trefoil
• Vernacular name :
  • Dongerabuta, Salparni, Krishna parni (Oria)
  • Adivi utchinta, Chepputatla, Chepputatta (Telugu)
  • Aadotti (Tamil)
  • Nilathuvara (Malayalam)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Tropical moist deciduous forests, Tropical semi-evergreen forests, also in the plains and open forests
• Comments / notes : On hills above 900m, in moist places amongst grasses and under partial shade.
• Key identification features : Small slender shrub; Leaves trifoliate, glabrous above; Flowers purple or sometimes white; Pods sessile, straight, hairy.
• Flower, Fruit : July-April
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy, Noel Sebastian
• Collection Date : 26-11-2018
• Collection Nos : HJCB-1873
• Collection Locality : Mamalakandam, Idukki district, Kerala
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Vishakapatnam district, Kurnool district, Chittoor district, West Godavari district, East Godavari district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Odisha : Ganjam district, Mayurbhanj district, Sambalpur district, Bolangir district, Bargarh district, Malkangiri district
  • Tamil Nadu : Salem district, Namakkal district, Dharmapuri district, Madurai district, The Nilgiri district, Tirunelveli district
  • Madhya Pradesh : Hoshangabad district
  • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • West Bengal : Darjeeling district, Jalpaiguri district
  • Himachal Pradesh : Shimla district
  • 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 and Nicobar Islands
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
• Native : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Fiji, Hainan, India, Japan, Jawa, Korea, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Philippine
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Fiji, Hainan, India, Japan, Jawa, Korea, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis-Futuna Islands
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature :
  • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
  • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
  • J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1
  • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
  • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.1. Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1
  • Herbarium specimen from Mamalakandam, Idukki district, Kerala (not scanned)
  • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Flora of Himachal Pradesh. Volume 1, Botanical Survey of India, 1984. Pg.: 199-200
• Read more :
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Desmodium heterocarpon var. heterocarpon. Downloaded on 1 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

India Distribution

World Distribution