Reshamkatha / Sanguinaria
Alternanthera tenella
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Reshamkatha
Identify Reshamkatha 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.
- Confirm leaf shape: Simple oval/lance-shaped.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Amaranthaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Reshamkatha.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Alternanthera tenella
- Genus
- Alternanthera
- Family
- Amaranthaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Native to
- Brazil
- Distribution
- Tropics & sub-tropics of the World
- Found in India
- Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, Sikkim
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Simple oval/lance-shapedrecorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Reshamkatha itself; the rest are typical of the Amaranthaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Achene
Typical of the Amaranthaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Bengali
- নানথি শাক Nanthi shak, পলতে কেশুত Palte keshut, সলতে কেশুত Salte keshut
- Gujarati
- વેલરો ગોરખ Velro gorakh
- Hindi
- रेशमकाथा Reshamkatha
- Kannada
- ಮತ್ಸ್ಯಾಕ್ಷಿ Matsyakshi
- Malayalam
- പൊന്നാങ്കണ്ണി Ponnaankanni
- Marathi
- कुसळ Kusal
- Sanskrit
- मत्स्याक्षी Matsyakshi
- Tamil
- சீமை பொன்னாங்கண்ணி Seemai ponnankanni
- Telugu
- అడవి పున్నాగంటె అలము Adavi punnaganti aalamu
- Tulu
- ಮೀನಂಕಣ್ಣಿ Meenamkanni
About Reshamkatha
Sanguinaria (Alternanthera tenella) belongs to the Amaranthaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat and 27 other states. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Amaranthaceae
Amaranth family
Reshamkatha 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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