Typical of the Fabaceae family
Crotalaria spectabilis
Sanni / Cats Bell सन्नी
Hindi name · See all regional names ↓
Also known as Rattlebox, Rattleweed, Yellow Crotalaria
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- September-May
Sanni in regional languages
Find the name you know, then compare it with the botanical profile. Columns list recorded aliases; they are not paired translations. A Latin spelling appears only when it is present in the source record.
| Language | Regional script | Recorded Latin spelling |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi | सन्नी · घुंगरी · धुनधुनी | Sanni, Ghungri, Dhundhuni |
| Bengali | ঝুমঝুমো · পিপুলি ঝুনঝুন | Pipuli jhunjhun |
| Kannada | Not recorded | Kaadu senabu |
| Marathi | डिंगळा · खुळखुळा | dingala, khulkhula |
See the original recorded names
- Hindi
- सन्नी Sanni, घुंगरी Ghungri, धुनधुनी Dhundhuni
- Bengali
- Pipuli jhunjhun, ঝুমঝুমো, পিপুলি ঝুনঝুন
- Kannada
- Kaadu senabu
- Marathi
- डिंगळा dingala, खुळखुळा khulkhula
Ecology & growing context
- Native status · Kew WCVP
- WCVP native range includes Andaman Is., Assam, India, Nicobar Is., West Himalaya Kew dataset ↗
Kew WCVP dataset; accepted-name match. Dataset matching is separate from an individual regional review. Recorded worldwide native range: Indian Subcontinent to Taiwan.
- Recorded habitat
- Mixed and deciduous forests
- Explore nearby plants
- Uttarakhand →Assam →Madhya Pradesh →
Occurrence records show where a plant has been recorded; they do not establish that it is native there. Compare local habitat and growing conditions when choosing plants for a garden.
How to identify Sanni
Identify Sanni by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Confirm leaf type: Simple (single blade).
- Confirm leaf surface: Pubescent (softly hairy).
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm fruit surface: Inflated (balloon-like).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: September-May.
- In India, compare location records such as Uttarakhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Crotalaria spectabilis
- Genus
- Crotalaria
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Mixed and deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- Pantropical
- Distribution
- Old world and Polynesia
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- September-May
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Simple (single blade)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Pubescent (softly hairy)recorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sanni itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Fruit surface
- Inflated (balloon-like)recorded
Typical of the family
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sanni itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family — flowering plants only.
About Sanni
Cats Bell (Crotalaria spectabilis) belongs to the Fabaceae family, where it grows as a low shrub. In India it has been recorded in Uttarakhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and 15 other states. It grows in mixed and deciduous forests. Flowering and fruiting run from September to May.
Fabaceae
Legume/Bean family
Sanni belongs to the Fabaceae 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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