Phutki / Malabar Melastome
Melastoma malabathricum
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Kerala, Karnataka, Assam & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Phutki
Identify Phutki 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: Common shrub with showy pink-purple flowers.
- Confirm leaf type: Simple.
- Confirm flower colour: Pink.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Cyme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, Maharashtra and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Melastoma malabathricum
- Genus
- Melastoma
- Family
- Melastomataceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Stream banks and marshy areas in deciduous forests
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar
- Found in India
- Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Mizoram, Nagaland, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- SimplerecordedA single, undivided leaf blade.“Its leaves are simple, elliptic lanceolate with a rounded base, are up to 7 cm long, and have three distinct main veins running from base to apex.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Characters marked “recorded” are for Phutki itself; the rest are typical of the Melastomataceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Pinkrecorded
- Flower arrangement
- CymerecordedA branched cluster where the central/terminal flower opens first.“Its flowers are borne on short terminal cymes 2 to 8 cm across.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit type
- BerryrecordedA fleshy fruit with seeds embedded directly in the pulp, no central stone.“Its fruit is a berry, which when ripe breaks irregularly to expose its soft, dark blue pulp and orange seeds.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Phutki itself; the rest are typical of the Melastomataceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- फुटकी Phutki
- Nepali
- अंगेरी Angeree, चुलेसी Chulesee
- Bengali
- বন তেজপাতা Bon Tejpata, দাঁতরাঙা Dantaranga, লুটকি Lutki
- Tamil
- கடலை Katalai, நாக்குக் கரப்பான் Nakku-K-Karappan
- Telugu
- నెక్కరి Nekkare, నెక్కరిసెల్య Nekkaresaelya, పాతుడు Pathudu
- Kannada
- ಅಂಕೇರ್ಕಿ Ankerki, ದೊಡ್ಡ ನೆಕ್ಕರೆ Dodda Nekkare, ಕೆಂಕರಿಕೆ Kenkarike
- Malayalam
- അതിരാണി Athiraani, കദളി Kadali, കലംപൊട്ടി Kalampotti
- Marathi
- लाखेरी Lakheri, पालोरे Palore, रिंधा Rindha
About Phutki
A member of the Melastomataceae family, Malabar Melastome (Melastoma malabathricum) is a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Karnataka, Assam and 13 other states. It grows in stream banks and marshy areas in deciduous forests. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
It is long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Melastomataceae
Melastome family
Phutki belongs to the Melastomataceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Melastomataceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Phutki 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