Ratan Purush / Spade Flower
Hybanthus enneaspermus
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Ratan Purush
Identify Ratan Purush 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.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Small spade-shaped flowers.
- Confirm flower colour: Purple.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttarakhand.
- Confirm it sits within the Violaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Ratan Purush.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Hybanthus enneaspermus
- Genus
- Hybanthus
- Family
- Violaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Dry deciduous forests and wastelands
- Native to
- Tropical Africa, Asia & Australia
- Distribution
- Africa, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, China, Hainan, Tropical Australia, New guinea
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
Typical of the Violaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Panicle
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Ratan Purush itself; the rest are typical of the Violaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- रतनपुरुष Ratan purush
- Bengali
- Munbora
- Telugu
- రత్నపురుశ Ratnapurusha
- Kannada
- ಪುರುಷರತ್ನ Purusharathna
- Malayalam
- Orilathamatai, ഒരിലത്താമര
- Marathi
- Rathanparas
About Ratan Purush
Spade Flower (Hybanthus enneaspermus) is a herb in the Violaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala and 1 other states. It grows in dry deciduous forests and wastelands. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Violaceae
Violet Family
Ratan Purush belongs to the Violaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Violaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Ratan Purush 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