Kanta Karanja / Wood Gossip Caesalpinia
Caesalpinia crista
- Habit
- Climbing shrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- February-June
How to identify Kanta Karanja
Identify Kanta Karanja 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.
- Confirm leaf type: Bipinnately compound (doubly divided, fern-like).
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: February-June.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Caesalpiniaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Kanta Karanja.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Caesalpinia crista
- Genus
- Caesalpinia
- Family
- Caesalpiniaceae
- Habit
- Climbing shrub
- Habitat
- Deciduous forests and mangrove forests
- Distribution
- India, Southeast Asia, Polynesia, Australia
- 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
- February-June
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Bipinnately compound (doubly divided, fern-like)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kanta Karanja itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kanta Karanja itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- कांटा करंज kanta karanja, कटकरंज katkaranja
- Bengali
- বেকাঁটানাটা bekamtanata, কুটুমকাঁটা kutumakamta, লতিকাঁটা latikamta
- Tamil
- முட்கொன்றை mut-konrai, பபேசியே
- Telugu
- ముళ్లతీగ mulluthige, ఫాబేసి
- Kannada
- ಕಿರಿ ಗೆಜ್ಜುಗ kiri gejjuga, ಸಣ್ಣ ಗೆಜ್ಜುಗ sanna gejjuga, ಚಪ್ಪರದವರೆ
- Malayalam
- ആറ്റുപരണ്ട aattuparanda, കാക്കമുള്ള് kaakkamullu, കഴഞ്ച് kazhanchi, ഫാബേസീ
- Marathi
- बनकरेटी ban-kareti, सागर लता sagar lata, फबासिए
- Sinhala
- රනිල කුලය
About Kanta Karanja
Wood Gossip Caesalpinia (Caesalpinia crista) is a climbing shrub in the Caesalpiniaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and 31 other states. It grows in deciduous forests and mangrove forests. Flowering and fruiting run from February to June.
Caesalpiniaceae
Senna family
Kanta Karanja belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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