Kanta Chaulai / Spiny Amaranth
Amaranthus spinosus
Also known as Prickly Amaranth
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Kanta Chaulai
Identify Kanta Chaulai 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: Pair of sharp spines at each leaf base.
- Confirm leaf arrangement: Alternate.
- Confirm leaf shape: Ovate.
- Confirm flower colour: Green.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Amaranthus spinosus
- Genus
- Amaranthus
- Family
- Amaranthaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Scrub jungle, waste places
- Native to
- Presumed as of American origin
- Distribution
- Cosmopolitan
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf arrangement
- AlternaterecordedOne leaf per node, arranged in a spiral or zigzag up the stem.“The ovate or rhombic-ovate leaves are alternate with long petioles.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- OvaterecordedEgg-shaped, broader near the base.“The ovate or rhombic-ovate leaves are alternate with long petioles.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kanta Chaulai itself; the rest are typical of the Amaranthaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- GreenrecordedGreen or greenish“The flowers are green, lack petals, and have terminal and axillary spikes.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kanta Chaulai itself; the rest are typical of the Amaranthaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- कांटा चौलाई Kanta chaulai, kanta chaulai, kante math
- Nepali
- बन लुँडे Ban lunde, बन्दनी Bandanee, काँडे लुँडे Kaande lunde
- Bengali
- কাঁটানটিয়া Kantanutiya, কাঁটানটে
- Tamil
- முள்ளுக்கீரை Mullu-k-kirai, முட்கீரை Mut-kirai, முள்ளுக்கீரை
- Telugu
- ముళ్ల తోటకూర Mullu thotakura, నల్ల దొగ్గలి తోటకూర Nalla doggali thotakura, ముళ్ళ తోటకూర
- Kannada
- ಮುಳ್ಳುದಂಟು Mullu dantu, ಮುಳ್ಳುಹಱುವೆ, ಮುಳ್ಳುಹರಿವೆ Mullu harive
- Malayalam
- മുള്ളൻ ചീര Mullan cheera, മുള്ളൻ ചീര
- Marathi
- कांटे भाजी Kante bhaji, कांटे माठ Kante math, तांदुळजा Tandulaja
About Kanta Chaulai
Spiny Amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus) is a herb in the Amaranthaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and 16 other states. It grows in scrub jungle, waste places. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
In practice it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and a source of dye or tannin. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Amaranthaceae
Amaranth family
Kanta Chaulai belongs to the Amaranthaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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