Bhu Okra / Turkey Tangle Frogfruit
Phyla nodiflora
Also known as Capeweed, Carper Weed, Creeping Lip Plant, Creeping Vervain, Purple Lippia
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Phyla nodiflora
- Genus
- Phyla
- Family
- Verbenaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Native to
- Old World tropics
- Distribution
- Tropics & sub-tropics
- Found in India
- Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Puducherry
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- OrbicularrecordedRounded, roughly circular.“It is similar to the related species Phyla lanceolata, but differs in having much shorter leaves that are often blunt and much more rounded.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Characters marked “recorded” are for Bhu Okra itself; the rest are typical of the Verbenaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Flower arrangement
- Head (dense tight cluster)recorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Drupe
Characters marked “recorded” are for Bhu Okra itself; the rest are typical of the Verbenaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- भू ओकरा Bhu Okra, छोटा ओकरा Chota Okra, जल बूटी Jal Buti
- Nepali
- अकमर Akamar, जल पिप्ली Jal Piplee, कोकना Kokanaa
- Bengali
- বুকুনবুটি Bukunbuti, কাচড়াঘাস Kacharaghas, ভূঁই ওকরা
- Tamil
- பொடுதலை Potutalai, தோயபாணம் Toyapanam, வன்னிகா Vannika
- Telugu
- బొక్కెనాకు Bokenaku, బొక్కెన Bokkena, గజ పిప్పలి కాడ Gajapippali-Kada
- Kannada
- ಜಲಹಿಪ್ಪಲಿ Jala Hippali, ಕೆರೆಹಿಪ್ಪಲಿ Kere Hippali, ನೀರುಹಿಪ್ಪಲಿ Neeru Hippali
- Malayalam
- ജലതിപ്പലി Jalathippali, കാട്ടുതിപ്പലി Kattuthippali, നീർതിപ്പലി Neerthippali
- Marathi
- गौर मुंडी Goura Mundi, जल पिंपळी Jala Pimpali, रतवेल Ratavel
About Bhu Okra
Turkey Tangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) belongs to the Verbenaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra and 20 other states. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Verbenaceae
Verbena/Teak family
Bhu Okra belongs to the Verbenaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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