Chirchita / Hooked Bristle Grass
Setaria verticillata
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- September-January
How to identify Chirchita
Identify Chirchita 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 flower arrangement: Panicle.
- Confirm fruit surface: Smooth, not spiny.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: September-January.
- In India, compare location records such as Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Poaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Chirchita.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Setaria verticillata
- Genus
- Setaria
- Family
- Poaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Degraded forest areas
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Pakistan, Tropical and warm regions
- Found in India
- Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- September-January
- 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
- Flower arrangement
- PaniclerecordedA branching cluster of clusters.“The inflorescence is a dense panicle up to 15 centimeters long which tapers at both ends.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit surface
- Smooth, not spinyrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Grain
Characters marked “recorded” are for Chirchita itself; the rest are typical of the Poaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- चिरचिटा Chirchita, बरचिट्टा Barchitta, उल्टा कांटा Ulta kanta
- Nepali
- झुसे कागुने घाँस Jhuse Kaagune Ghaans
- Tamil
- Amarippul, Chankari, Chataippul
About Chirchita
Hooked bristle grass (Setaria verticillata) is a herb in the Poaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and 11 other states. It grows in degraded forest areas. Flowering and fruiting run from September to January.
Poaceae
Grass family
Chirchita belongs to the Poaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Poaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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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