Vilayati Tarwar / Hairy Sickle Pod
Senna hirsuta
Also known as American Hairy Senna
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- June-April
How to identify Vilayati Tarwar
Identify Vilayati Tarwar 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: Densely hairy stems and pods.
- Confirm leaf type: Pinnately compound.
- Confirm leaf shape: Ovate.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: June-April.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Senna hirsuta
- Genus
- Senna
- Family
- Caesalpiniaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Deciduous and degraded forests, also in the plains
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- Tropical America
- Distribution
- Old World tropics
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- June-April
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Pinnately compoundrecordedLeaflets are arranged in rows along a central stalk, like a feather.“Its leaves are pinnate, 100–160 mm (3.9–6.3 in) long on a petiole 40–65 mm (1.6–2.6 in) long, usually with two to six pairs of egg-shaped leaflets, sometimes with the narrower end ” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- OvaterecordedEgg-shaped, broader near the base.“Its leaves are pinnate, 100–160 mm (3.9–6.3 in) long on a petiole 40–65 mm (1.6–2.6 in) long, usually with two to six pairs of egg-shaped leaflets, sometimes with the narrower end ” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Vilayati Tarwar itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Vilayati Tarwar itself; the rest are typical of the Caesalpiniaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- विलायती तरवर Vilayati Tarwar
- Bengali
- বড় চাকুন্দা Bara Chakunda
- Tamil
- மலையாவாரை Malaiyavarai, மலையாவாரம் Malaiyavaram, மலையாவிரை Malaiyavirai
- Telugu
- నూగు తంగేడు Nugu Tangedu
- Kannada
- ಅಡವಿ ತಂಗಡಿ Adavi Thangadi
- Malayalam
- പൊന്നാവീരം Ponnaaveeram
- Marathi
- केसाळ तरवड Kesal Tarvad
About Vilayati Tarwar
Hairy Sickle Pod (Senna hirsuta) belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family, where it grows as a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and 12 other states. It grows in deciduous and degraded forests, also in the plains. Flowering and fruiting run from June to April.
Caesalpiniaceae
Senna family
Vilayati Tarwar belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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