Sarphonk / Common Tephrosia
Tephrosia purpurea
Also known as Wild Indigo
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Tephrosia purpurea
- Genus
- Tephrosia
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Moist deciduous forests and grasslands, also in the plains and waste places
- Distribution
- Himalayas, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, South Africa, Bhutan, Australia; Introduced in Tropical America
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Daman & Diu, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Pinnately compound (leaflets in rows along a stalk)recorded
- Leaf shape
- ObovaterecordedEgg-shaped but broader near the tip rather than the base.“The plant's leaflets are obovate-oblong, somewhat wedge-shaped, equal-sided, and of a silky texture.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glaucous (waxy blue-grey bloom)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sarphonk itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sarphonk itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Sarphonk सरफोंक, शरपुंखा Sharpunkha
- Nepali
- काँडे साखिनु Kaande Saakhinu
- Bengali
- বননীলগাছ Bannilgach
- Tamil
- காவாளி kavali, கொள்ளுக்காய்வேளை kolluk-kay-velai, Kawati
- Telugu
- వెంపలి
- Kannada
- ಎಂಪಲಿ Empali, ಕೊಗ್ಗಿ Koggi, ಕೊಗ್ಗಿಲಿ Koggili
- Malayalam
- Kozhinjil, കൊഴിഞ്ഞിൽ
- Marathi
- शरपुंखा sharpankha, उन्हाळी unhali, उन्हाळी
- Gujarati
- ઘોડાકાન, શરપંખો
About Sarphonk
Common Tephrosia (Tephrosia purpurea) is a low shrub in the Fabaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and 18 other states. It grows in moist deciduous forests and grasslands, also in the plains and waste places. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
In practice it is long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
Fabaceae
Legume/Bean family
Sarphonk belongs to the Fabaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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