Knoxia sumatrensis (Retz.) DC.

 
  • Family : RUBIACEAE
    (Madder Or Coffee Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : COFFEE FAMILY (कॉफी फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Rubiaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Spermacoce sumatrensis Retz.; Cuncea trifida Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don; Dentillaria corymbosa (Willd.) Kuntze; Dentillaria heyneana (DC.) Kuntze; Dentillaria mollis (R.Br. ex Wight & Arn.) Kuntze; Ernodea nepalensis Spreng.; Knoxia corymbosa Willd.; Knoxia corymbosa var. parviflora F.Muell.; Knoxia exserta DC.; Knoxia heyneana DC.; Knoxia linearis Gamble; Knoxia mollis R.Br. ex Wight & Arn.; Knoxia mollis var. subcapitata Miq.; Knoxia stricta Gaertn.; Knoxia stricta var. parviflora (F.Muell.) Domin; Knoxia sumatrensis var. glaberrima R.Bhattacharjee & Deb; Knoxia sumatrensis var. linearis (Gamble) R.Bhattacharjee & Deb; Knoxia teres (Roxb.) DC.; Knoxia umbellata Banks ex Roxb.; Knoxia umbellata Banks ex Spreng.; Knoxia umbellifera Roxb. ex Wight & Arn.; Spermacoce corymbosa Roth; Spermacoce exserta Roxb.; Spermacoce teres Roxb.; Timonius malaccensis King & Gamble.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Knoxia sumatrensis (Retz.) DC.
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : All types of forests, also in the plains
  • Comments / notes : Occasional in plains and Western Ghats; On hills from 1000m onwards on bare slopes. Infrequent in deciduous forests
  • Key identification features : An erect herb up to 1.5 m tall, pubescent. Leaves petioled, narrowly lanceolate, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces. Flowers bluish or pale violet, in terminal corymbose cymes. Fruit ellipsoidal, white villous
  • Flower, Fruit : June-May
  • Collection Nos : HFP 1070, CJS 14207
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district, Galikonda Hills, Sunkarimetta Hills, Cherukonda Hills (Visakhapatnam district), Kadapa district, Chittoor district
    • Karnataka : Bengaluru district, Belagavi district, Ballari district, Chikkamagaluru district, Chitradurga district, Dakshina Kannada district, Davanagare district, Hassan district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Tumakuru district, Uttara Kannada district
    • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
    • Maharashtra : Ahmednagar district, Bhandara district, Chandrapur district, Kolhapur district, Pune district, Nagpur district, Sindhudurg district, Thane district, Yavatmal district
    • Odisha : Koraput district, Mayurbhanj district
    • Tamil Nadu : Kolli Hills (Namakkal district), Sirumalai Hills (Dindigul district), Salem district
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Native : Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, China, Hainan, India, Jawa, Malaya, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Islands, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Tropical & Subtropical Asia to Queensland
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Flora of Hassan district, Karnataka
    • Balakrishna Gowda & A.N. Sringesh 2004 – Sringeri (checklist unpublished)
    • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Flora of Bangalore district, Karnataka state
    • Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state
    • N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka
    • Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
    • Pullaiah et al., 2007 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 3
    • J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1
    • 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
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • N.P. Singh, P. Lakshminarasimhan, S. Karthikeyan & P. V. Prasanna (2001). Flora of Maharashtra state, Dicotyledones. Vol. 2. Botanical survey of India, Govt. India.
    • Nayar, T. S., et al, 2006. Flowering plants of Kerala, A hand book
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2025). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Knoxia sumatrensis. Downloaded on 23 June 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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