Danta / Aligator Weed
Alternanthera philoxeroides
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana & more
- Flowering
- May-November
How to identify Danta
Identify Danta by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Invasive aquatic weed (alligator weed).
- Confirm leaf shape: Simple oval/lance-shaped.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Raceme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: May-November.
- In India, compare location records such as West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana, Maharashtra and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Alternanthera philoxeroides
- Genus
- Alternanthera
- Family
- Amaranthaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Native to
- South America, now established in Indo-Malaysia and Australia
- Found in India
- West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- May-November
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Simple oval/lance-shapedrecorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Danta itself; the rest are typical of the Amaranthaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded“Bisexual flowers are small, white, and born on dense, axillary spikes (type of raceme).” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flower arrangement
- RacemerecordedIndividual stalked flowers arranged along a central stem, opening from bottom to top.“Bisexual flowers are small, white, and born on dense, axillary spikes (type of raceme).” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Danta itself; the rest are typical of the Amaranthaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Bengali
- Danta, মালঞ্চ শাক, মদরংগা
- Kannada
- ದೊಡ್ಡಹೊನಗೊನೆ Dodda honagone, ಮೊಸಳೆಹೊನಗೊನೆ Mosale honagone
About Danta
A member of the Amaranthaceae family, Aligator Weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana and 10 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from May to November.
In culture
It carries a body of folklore around it.
Amaranthaceae
Amaranth family
Danta belongs to the Amaranthaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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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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