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Justicia adhatoda
Also called Malabar Nut Tree, Pavettia
Justicia adhatoda is a shrub or small tree from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, grown in gardens and used in traditional medicine. It tolerates a range of conditions but needs warmth and reasonable sun to flower well.
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.
Shrimpplant · Brazilian-plume · Justicia floribunda · Warer Willow
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Justicia adhatoda by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
