Kare / Carray Cheddle
Canthium parviflorum
Also known as Coromandel Canthium, Honey-Thorn, Wild Jessamine
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
- Flowering
- April-January
How to identify Kare
Identify Kare by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Thorny hedge shrub, small yellow-white flowers.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: April-January.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu.
- Confirm it sits within the Rubiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Kare.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Canthium parviflorum
- Genus
- Canthium
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Scrub and dry deciduous forests, also in sacred groves
- Native to
- India
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Indo-China, Malaysia
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
- Flowering & fruiting
- April-January
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kare itself; the rest are typical of the Rubiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kare itself; the rest are typical of the Rubiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Marathi
- किरमा Kirma, Kadbar
- Tamil
- Nallakkarai, Kudiram, Sengarai
- Malayalam
- Kantankara, Niruri, Serukara
- Telugu
- Sinnabalusu, Balusu
- Kannada
- ಕಾರೆ Kare, ಕಾರೆಮುಳ್ಳು Karemullu, ಒಳ್ಳೆಪೊದೆ Ollepode
- Odia
- Tutidi
- Konkani
- Kayili
- Sanskrit
- Nagabala, Gangeruki
About Kare
Carray Cheddle (Canthium parviflorum) is a shrub in the Rubiaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It grows in scrub and dry deciduous forests, also in sacred groves. Flowering and fruiting run from April to January.
Rubiaceae
Coffee/Madder family
Kare belongs to the Rubiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Rubiaceae 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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