Tusara / Wild Rhea
Debregeasia longifolia
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Meghalaya & more
- Flowering
- November-March
How to identify Tusara
Identify Tusara 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: Bark fiber used to make rope (wild rhea).
- Confirm leaf surface: Pubescent (softly hairy).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: November-March.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Urticaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Tusara.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Debregeasia longifolia
- Genus
- Debregeasia
- Family
- Urticaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Evergreen forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Himalayas, Myanmar, Indo-China, Malaysia
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Kerala, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland
- Flowering & fruiting
- November-March
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf surface
- Pubescent (softly hairy)recorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Tusara itself; the rest are typical of the Urticaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit
- Achene
Typical of the Urticaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- तुसारा Tusara, Sausaru
- Nepali
- तुसारे Tushaare
- Tamil
- Kattunochi, Chakavatitam, Chakavatitamaram
- Telugu
- Kerangi
- Kannada
- ಕೆಪ್ಪಸಿ Keppasi, Kaapli, ಕಾಪ್ಸಿ
- Malayalam
- Kattunochi, Njandumutta, Pulichi
- Marathi
- Khargul, खारगुल
About Tusara
A member of the Urticaceae family, Wild Rhea (Debregeasia longifolia) is a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Meghalaya and 9 other states. It grows in evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from November to March.
Urticaceae
Nettle family
Tusara belongs to the Urticaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Urticaceae 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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