Pretty Dragon's Tongue
Desmodium pulchellum
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- September-February
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 family →Snap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Pretty Dragon's Tongue or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.