Kadapananthu / Nettle-Leaved Vervain
Stachytarpheta urticifolia
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Kadapananthu
Identify Kadapananthu 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.
- Confirm flower colour: Purple.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Spike (stalkless flowers along a stem).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Assam and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Verbenaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Kadapananthu.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Stachytarpheta urticifolia
- Genus
- Stachytarpheta
- Family
- Verbenaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Moist areas of the forests and plains
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- Pantropical
- Found in India
- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Assam, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Opposite
Typical of the Verbenaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet
- Flower arrangement
- Spike (stalkless flowers along a stem)recorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Drupe
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kadapananthu itself; the rest are typical of the Verbenaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Malayalam
- Kadapananthu
About Kadapananthu
Nettle-leaved vervain (Stachytarpheta urticifolia) belongs to the Verbenaceae family, where it grows as a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and 7 other states. It grows in moist areas of the forests and plains. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Verbenaceae
Verbena/Teak family
Kadapananthu belongs to the Verbenaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Verbenaceae 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.
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