Senna alata (L.) Roxb.

 
  • Family : CAESALPINIACEAE
    (Pea Or Bean Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : IMLI FAMILY (ईमली फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Leguminosae
  • Subfamily : Caesalpinioideae
  • Basionym : Cassia alata L.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Senna alata (L.) Roxb.
  • Common name : Candle Cassia, Candle Bush, Carrion Crow Bush, Candlesticks, Empress candle plant, Ringworm Cassia, Winged Senna
  • Vernacular name :
    • Dadmurdaare, Dadmari (Hindi)
    • Aane thagathe (Kannada)
    • Vandu raali, Seematyagatthi (Tamil)
    • Dadrughana (Sanskrit)
    • Chakrathakara, Elakayam, Malamthakara, Puzhukkadikonna, Puzhukkadithakara, Seema-agathi (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Shrub or Tree
  • Habitat : Along riversides and margin of ponds and also planted in gardens
  • Comments / notes : In plains, often along water courses, near cultivation and also near habitations. Sometimes planted in gardens as an ornament.
  • Key identification features : Large shrub or small tree; stipules persistent and deltoid
  • Flower, Fruit : September-February
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : S.P.S. Nellore district, Visakhapatnam district
    • Karnataka : Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district
    • Kerala : All districts
    • Maharashtra : Thane district
    • Odisha : Mayurbhanj district
    • Tamil Nadu : Tamil Nadu
    • West Bengal : West Bengal
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman Islands
  • Native : Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Islands
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Islands
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
    • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
    • Sudhakar Reddy, C et al., 2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India
    • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
    • Parkinson, C.E. 1923. A Forest Flora of the Andaman Islands, Govt. of India, Shimla
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Senna alata
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Senna alata. Downloaded on 5 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution

Creative Commons License
India Trees and Vegetation Types by Herbarium JCB is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.