Draupadi Mala / Foxtail Orchid
Rhynchostylis retusa
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- May-December
How to identify Draupadi Mala
Identify Draupadi Mala 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: Dense hanging clusters of speckled flowers (foxtail orchid).
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Raceme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: May-December.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala, Karnataka and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Orchidaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Draupadi Mala.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Rhynchostylis retusa
- Genus
- Rhynchostylis
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Moist deciduous forests, also in sacred groves
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Nepal, Myanmar, Malay-peninsula, Cambodia, Indonesia, Java, Sri Lanka, Philippines
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Goa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Tripura, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana
- Flowering & fruiting
- May-December
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Orchidaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Flower arrangement
- RacemerecordedIndividual stalked flowers arranged along a central stem, opening from bottom to top.“The inflorescence is a pendant raceme, consisting of more than 100 pink-spotted white flowers.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Draupadi Mala itself; the rest are typical of the Orchidaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- द्रौपदी माला Draupadi Mala,द्रौपदी माला draupadi mala
- Nepali
- घोडे गाभा Ghode Gaabhaa, थुर Thur, घोगे गावा
- Bengali
- কপৌ ফুল Kopou Phool, কপৌ ফুল
- Tamil
- துரோபதை மாலை Dropathai Maalai
- Telugu
- చింతరణం Chintaranam, చింతరణం
- Kannada
- ದ್ರೌಪದಿ ಮಾಲೆ Draupadi Maale, ಸೀತಾ ದಂಡೆ Seetha Dande
- Malayalam
- അണ്ണാൻ താളി Annaan Thaali, അണ്ണാൻ വാലൻ Annaan Vaalan, ആഞ്ഞിലി മരവാഴ Anjili Maravaazha
- Marathi
- गजरा Gajara, पणस केळी Panas Keli, सीतेची वेणी Seetechi Veni, सीतेची वेणी
- Sinhala
- ගුරුළුරාජ
About Draupadi Mala
Foxtail Orchid (Rhynchostylis retusa) is a herb in the Orchidaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala and 18 other states. It grows in moist deciduous forests, also in sacred groves. Flowering and fruiting run from May to December.
Orchidaceae
Orchid family
Draupadi Mala belongs to the Orchidaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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