Soap-Nut Acacia
Acacia sinuata
Also known as Washing Pod Tree, Ritha, Soapnut Acacia
- Habit
- Climbing shrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- January-June
How to identify Soap-Nut Acacia
Identify Soap-Nut Acacia by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a climbing shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Pods used as a natural soap/shampoo (soap-nut acacia).
- Confirm leaf shape: Feathery bipinnate leaflets.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: January-June.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Mimosaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Soap-Nut Acacia.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Acacia sinuata
- Genus
- Acacia
- Family
- Mimosaceae
- Habit
- Climbing shrub
- Habitat
- Moist deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South China, Malaysia, New Guinea
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Punjab, Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Puducherry, Mizoram, Manipur, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Nagaland, Tripura, Chandigarh
- Flowering & fruiting
- January-June
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Feathery bipinnate leafletsrecorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Soap-Nut Acacia itself; the rest are typical of the Mimosaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Head
- Fruit
- Legume
Typical of the Mimosaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Malayalam
- ചീവിക്ക, Acacia sinuata, ഫാബേസീ
- Tamil
- பபேசியே
- Telugu
- ఫాబేసి
- Kannada
- ಚಪ್ಪರದವರೆ
- Marathi
- फबासिए
- Sinhala
- රනිල කුලය
About Soap-Nut Acacia
Soap-Nut Acacia (Acacia sinuata) belongs to the Mimosaceae family, where it grows as a climbing shrub. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and 31 other states. It grows in moist deciduous forests. Flowering and fruiting run from January to June.
Mimosaceae
Mimosa/Acacia family
Soap-Nut Acacia belongs to the Mimosaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Mimosaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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