Narival / Indian Comet Grass
Perotis indica
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Narival
Identify Narival 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.
- Confirm fruit surface: Smooth, not spiny.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Telangana and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Poaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Narival.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Perotis indica
- Genus
- Perotis
- Family
- Poaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Wastelands
- Habitat type
- Wasteland
- Distribution
- India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaya, Southeast Asia
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Poaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit surface
- Smooth, not spinyrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Grain
Characters marked “recorded” are for Narival itself; the rest are typical of the Poaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Tamil
- narival, kudiraival pullu, thopparai pullu
- Kannada
- narimisai-hullu, jabburu-korlai-hullu
- Malayalam
- tsjeria-kuren-pullu
- Marathi
- dev-nail, urya-nail
About Narival
Indian Comet Grass (Perotis indica) belongs to the Poaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal and 6 other states. It grows in wastelands. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Poaceae
Grass family
Narival belongs to the Poaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Poaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Narival 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