Kala Bhangra / Railway Weed
Croton bonplandianus
Also known as Riverside Weed
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Kala Bhangra
Identify Kala Bhangra 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.
- Confirm leaf margin: Toothed (serrate/dentate edge).
- Confirm leaf surface: Pubescent (softly hairy).
- Confirm flower colour: Green.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Euphorbiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Kala Bhangra.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Croton bonplandianus
- Genus
- Croton
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Degraded forests and roadsides
- Native to
- temperate South America
- Distribution
- Naturalized in paleotropics
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Delhi, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam, Daman & Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf margin
- Toothed (serrate/dentate edge)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Pubescent (softly hairy)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kala Bhangra itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- GreenrecordedGreen or greenish
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kala Bhangra itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Kala Bhangra, বন তুলসি
- Bengali
- बन तुलसी, বন তুলসী, বন মরিচ
- Tamil
- ரயில் பூண்டு Reilpoondu
- Telugu
- క్రోటాన్ బోన్ప్లాడియనం
- Kannada
- ಅಲ್ಪಭೇದಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು Alpa bedhi soppu
About Kala Bhangra
Railway Weed (Croton bonplandianus) is a herb in the Euphorbiaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and 21 other states. It grows in degraded forests and roadsides. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Euphorbiaceae
Spurge/Euphorbia family
Kala Bhangra belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Euphorbiaceae 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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