Boerhavia diffusa L.

 
  • Family : NYCTAGINACEAE
    (Four-O'clock Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : BOOGANBEL FAMILY (बूगनबेल फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Nyctaginaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Boerhavia repens var. diffusa (L.) Hook.f.; Boerhavia repens var. repens L.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Boerhavia diffusa L.
  • Common name : Common Hogweed, Spreading Hogweed, Pigweed, Gorgon, Prickly Water Lily, Hogweed, Pigweed
  • Vernacular name :
    • Beshakapore, Gadhaparna, Pathar chetaka, Santh (Hindi)
    • Punarnava, Adakaputtana gida (Kannada)
    • Mookkaratti, Saarai (Tamil)
    • Punarnava (Sanskrit)
    • Punarnava (Marathi)
    • Thamizhama, Thavizhama, Thazhuthama, Thumizhama, Tharana (Malayalam)
    • Karkaria, Parni, Kechna, Atikapudi sag, Guodapuruni (Oria)
    • Rakta punarnava, Atakamamidi (Telugu)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Comments / notes : Often on hills to 1000m. Common on the wayside, wasteland and even on poor soil. A low altitude replacement of Boerhavia chinensis (L.) Asch. & Schweinf.
  • Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
  • Distribution :
    • Karnataka : Mysuru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Udupi district
    • Maharashtra : Akola district
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Kameng, Siang, Subansiri
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Punjab : Punjab
    • Rajasthan : Jaisalmer district, Barmer district, Bikaner district, Jodhpur district
  • Native : Afghanistan, Aldabra, Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Repu, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) I
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Pantropical, Australia
  • Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
  • Literature :
    • J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3
    • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
    • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
    • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
    • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
    • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • G.S Giri., A.Pramanik., H.J. Chowdhery., G.D Pal and S.K. Das (2008). Materials for Arunachal Pradesh, Vol (2), Pg: 299
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Boerhavia diffusa. Downloaded on 10 October 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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