Cadaba fruticosa

Cadaba fruticosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Capparaceae
Genus: Cadaba
Species:
C. fruticosa
Binomial name
Cadaba fruticosa
Synonyms[1]

Cleome fruticosa L.

Cadaba fruticosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Capparaceae. It is a shrub native to Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka on the Indian Subcontinent.[1]

Its habitat includes the dry parts of the Gangetic plain, down through the Vindhya Range, to Deccan thorn scrub forests in southern India and dry forests of northern Sri Lanka. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is known from to the Gangetic Plain of northern India and Bangladesh, south to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana. It is found in Rayalaseema, central and eastern parts of Karnataka and south to Tamil Nadu, west to rainshadow regions around Palakkad and Punalur.

In Tamil Nadu, Cadaba fruticosa is known as '"vizhuthi" (Tamil: விழுதி (viļuti)) and used in Siddha medicine for more than 2000 years. The juice of the leaves is especially used to cure gonorrhoea (Tamil: வெண்மேகம் (věṇmēkam)).

References

  1. ^ a b "Cadaba fruticosa (L.) Druce". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  • Media related to Cadaba fruticosa at Wikimedia Commons