Common name: Mysore Thorn, Cat's claw, Mauritius thorn • Hindi: Ralan, Arlu, Kingan, Alai • Marathi: चिलार Chilar • Telugu: Gaddakorinda • Kannada: Gajalige, hotasige, Hunnula, Kurudu gejjuga
Botanical name: Caesalpinia decapetala Family: Caesalpiniaceae (Gulmohar family)
Mysore Thorn is a large climber or shrub with sprawling branches, forming
large impenetrable thickets, with curved thorns on young branches. The
leaf spines also have thorns. Leaves are double-compound, with 3-15 pairs
of pinnae, and each pinna having 5-12 pairs of oblong-elliptic, rounded
leaflets, 1-2.2 cm long, 0.4-1.1 cm wide. Flowers are perfect, 2.5-3 cm in
diameter, in racemes in leaf axils and at the end of branches. Petals are
yellow, upper one veined or blotched with red, 1.2-1.5 cm long. Pods are,
slightly swollen, 6.5-11 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, and burst open on their
own. Seeds are 4-9 black, ellipsoid, laterally flattened, 8-12 mm long,
6-8 mm wide. Flowering: May-April.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale
| Photographed at Satara, Maharashtra. |
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