Vasa
Justicia adhatoda
Also known as Vasaka, Malabar nut, Adhatoda
About Vasa
Justicia adhatoda commonly known in English as Malabar nut, adulsa, adhatoda, vasa, vasaka, is native to Asia. Adathoda means 'untouched by goats' in Tamil. The name derives from the fact that animals like goats do not eat this plant due to its extreme bitter taste. The plant's native range is Afghanistan, the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka), Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is used as a traditional medicinal plant.
Description adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Justicia adhatoda
- Genus
- Justicia
- Family
- ACANTHACEAE
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Plains
- Native to
- Indo-Himalaya
- Distribution
- India, sub-tropical Himalayas, China, Malaya Peninsula, Nepal
- Flowering & fruiting
- October-March
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Local Names
- Hindi
- अरुस arus, अड़ूसा arusa, प्रामाद्य pramadya
- Nepali
- असुरो asuro, कालो भासक kalo bhasaka, अडेसो
- Bengali
- বাসক basak, Basak, বাসক
- Tamil
- ஆசலை acalai, ஆடாதோடை atatotai, ஆட்டுசம் attucam
- Telugu
- అడ్డసరం
- Kannada
- ಆಡುಸೋಗೆ Aadusoge, ಕರ್ಚಿ Karchi, ಅಡ್ಡಸರ Addasara
- Malayalam
- ആടലോടകം aatalootakam, ആടലോടകം, Aatalootakam
- Marathi
- अडुळसा adulasa, Adulasa, adulsa
Acanthaceae
Acanthus family
Vasa belongs to the Acanthaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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