Pretty Dragon's Tongue
Desmodium pulchellum
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- September-February
How to identify Pretty Dragon's Tongue
Identify Pretty Dragon's Tongue 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: Trifoliate (three leaflets).
- Confirm leaf surface: Pubescent (softly hairy).
- Confirm flower colour: Purple.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: September-February.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Fabaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Pretty Dragon's Tongue.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Desmodium pulchellum
- Genus
- Desmodium
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Dry deciduous and moist deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- Temperate and Tropical Asia to Australia
- Distribution
- Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, China, Northern Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indo-China, RyuKyu Islands
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Punjab, Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Puducherry, Mizoram, Manipur, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Nagaland, Tripura, Chandigarh
- Flowering & fruiting
- September-February
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Trifoliate (three leaflets)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Pubescent (softly hairy)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Pretty Dragon's Tongue itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Pretty Dragon's Tongue itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Tamil
- பபேசியே
- Telugu
- ఫాబేసి
- Kannada
- ಚಪ್ಪರದವರೆ
- Malayalam
- ഫാബേസീ
- Marathi
- फबासिए
- Sinhala
- රනිල කුලය
About Pretty Dragon's Tongue
Pretty Dragon's Tongue (Desmodium pulchellum) is a low shrub in the Fabaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and 31 other states. It grows in dry deciduous and moist deciduous forests. Flowering and fruiting run from September to February.
Fabaceae
Legume/Bean family
Pretty Dragon's Tongue belongs to the Fabaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Fabaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Pretty Dragon's Tongue or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
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.
All plant problem & care guides