✿Rubiaceae · Mussaenda

White Flag

Mussaenda glabrata

Shrub

Habit: Shrub
Found in India: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & more
Flowering: May-November

How to identify White Flag

Identify White Flag 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.
Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: May-November.
In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala.
Confirm it sits within the Rubiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is White Flag.

Plant Details

Scientific name: Mussaenda glabrata
Genus: Mussaenda
Family: Rubiaceae
Habit: Shrub
Habitat: Moist deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests
Habitat type: Forest
Distribution: India
Found in India: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
Flowering & fruiting: May-November
Conservation status: Not Evaluated (NE)

Leaf characters

Leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded

Typical of the family

Arrangement: Opposite
Type: Simple
Margin: Entire
Venation: Pinnate

Characters marked “recorded” are for White Flag itself; the rest are typical of the Rubiaceae family.

Flower & fruit characters

Flower colour: Yellowrecorded

Typical of the family

Flower symmetry: Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
Inflorescence: Cyme
Fruit: Berry

Characters marked “recorded” are for White Flag itself; the rest are typical of the Rubiaceae family — flowering plants only.

Local Names

Malayalam: വെള്ളിലത്താളി

About White Flag

A member of the Rubiaceae family, White Flag (Mussaenda glabrata) is a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and 1 other states. It grows in moist deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from May to November.

Botanical family

Rubiaceae

Coffee/Madder family

White Flag belongs to the Rubiaceae family.

The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.

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Common plant problems

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