Paka / Common Purple Mallow
Urena lobata subsp. sinuata
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh & more
- Flowering
- July-December
How to identify Paka
Identify Paka by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Hooked-spine burr fruit.
- Confirm flower colour: Pink.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-December.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Malvaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Paka.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Urena lobata subsp. sinuata
- Genus
- Urena
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- Pantropical
- Found in India
- Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, Telangana
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-December
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Malvaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Pinkrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Solitary
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Paka itself; the rest are typical of the Malvaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- paka
- Bengali
- বনওকড়া
- Malayalam
- ഊർപ്പണം, ഊർപണം, Urena lobata
- Marathi
- रान तुपकुडा
About Paka
Common Purple Mallow (Urena lobata subsp. sinuata) is a low shrub in the Malvaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and 10 other states. It grows in moist deciduous forests, also in the plains. Flowering and fruiting run from July to December.
Malvaceae
Mallow/Hibiscus family
Paka belongs to the Malvaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Malvaceae 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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