What are hurhur seeds used for?

The pungent seeds are used in some regions like a mustard substitute in tempering and pickles, and the plant has attributed folk-medicinal uses.

How do you identify Cleome viscosa?

Look for a sticky, strong-smelling herb with finger-like divided leaves, yellow four-petalled flowers and long upright slender pods.

✿Capparaceae · Cleome

Hulhul / Wild-Dog Mustard

Cleome viscosa

Also known as Sticky Cleome

HerboutdoorMedicinal

Habit: Herb
Found in India: Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana & more
Flowering: Throughout the year

Identify this plant with SASYA

How to identify Hulhul

Identify Hulhul 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: Sticky glandular hairs all over (wild mustard).
Confirm leaf shape: Ovate.
Confirm leaf margin: Entire.
Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
Use the leaf pattern: alternate leaf arrangement, compound leaves, entire leaf margins, palmate venation.

Plant Details

Scientific name: Cleome viscosa
Genus: Cleome
Family: Capparaceae
Habit: Herb
Native to: Old World from tropical Africa, S. Arabia to Tropical Australia; Malaysia
Distribution: Cosmopolitan
Found in India: Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Assam, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Sikkim
Flowering & fruiting: Throughout the year
Conservation status: Not Evaluated (NE)

Leaf characters

Leaf shape: OvaterecordedEgg-shaped, broader near the base.“leaflet blade ovate to oblanceolate-elliptic, (0.6–)2–6 × 0.5–3.5 cm, margins entire and glandular-ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glandular-hirsute.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf margin: EntirerecordedA smooth, unbroken edge with no teeth or notches.“leaflet blade ovate to oblanceolate-elliptic, (0.6–)2–6 × 0.5–3.5 cm, margins entire and glandular-ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glandular-hirsute.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Leaf surface: HirsuterecordedCovered in coarse, stiff, bristly hairs.“Leaves: petiole 1.5–4.5(–8) cm, glandular-hirsute;” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Typical of the family

Arrangement: Alternate
Type: Compound
Venation: Palmate

Characters marked “recorded” are for Hulhul itself; the rest are typical of the Capparaceae family.

Flower & fruit characters

Flower colour: Yellowrecorded
Fruit type: CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“Capsules dehiscing only partway from apex to base, 30–100 × 2–4 mm, glandular-hirsute.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Typical of the family

Flower symmetry: Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
Inflorescence: Raceme
Fruit: Capsule

Characters marked “recorded” are for Hulhul itself; the rest are typical of the Capparaceae family — flowering plants only.

Local Names

Hindi: हुलहुल Hulhul, बगरो Bagro
Nepali: हुर हुरे Hur Hure, बन तोरी Ban Toree, तोरी झार Toree Jhaar
Bengali: হলুদ হুড়হুড়ে
Tamil: Naikkaduku, நாய்வேளை
Telugu: Kukkavaminta
Kannada: Gandunaa balli, Nayibela
Malayalam: Naivela, അരിവാള
Marathi: पिवला तिळवण Pivala tilavan, पिवला तिळवण
Gujarati: પીળી તલવણી

Hulhul in India

Hurhur is a sticky, strong-smelling yellow-flowered weed of the monsoon — हुलहुल Hulhul (Hindi), Naikkaduku (Tamil), Kukkavaminta (Telugu), Gandunaa balli (Kannada), Naivela (Malayalam), पिवला तिळवण Pivala tilavan (Marathi). Cleome viscosa is recorded across Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, on fields, roadsides and waste ground.

Uses

Its pungent seeds are used like a mustard substitute in tempering and pickling in some regions, and the young leaves are occasionally eaten; the plant has attributed uses in folk medicine. It is mostly a common weed of cultivated land.

How to Identify Hulhul

An erect, glandular-hairy, sticky herb that smells strongly when handled, with leaves divided palmately into several leaflets like fingers. It bears yellow four-petalled flowers and long, slender, upright ribbed seed-pods held close to the stem.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Wild-dog Mustard called in different Indian languages?: हुलहुल Hulhul (Hindi); Naikkaduku (Tamil); Kukkavaminta (Telugu); Gandunaa balli (Kannada); Naivela (Malayalam); पिवला तिळवण Pivala tilavan (Marathi); হলুদ হুড়হুড়ে (Bengali); પીળી તલવણી (Gujarati).
What are hurhur seeds used for?: The pungent seeds are used in some regions like a mustard substitute in tempering and pickles, and the plant has attributed folk-medicinal uses.
How do you identify Cleome viscosa?: Look for a sticky, strong-smelling herb with finger-like divided leaves, yellow four-petalled flowers and long upright slender pods.

Botanical family

Capparaceae

Caper Family

Hulhul belongs to the Capparaceae family.

The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.

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Common plant problems

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Sources: GBIF — Cleome viscosa (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · iNaturalist — Cleome viscosa (regional names, India observations) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Cleome viscosa (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)