Names of Plants in India :: Alternanthera ficoidea (L.) P.Beauv.

[Dinesh Valke]

Alternanthera ficoidea (L.) P.Beauv.

al-ter-NANTH-ur-uh -- alternating anther ... Dave's Botanary
fy-KOY-dee-uh -- fig-like ... Dave's Botanary

commonly known as: fig joyweed, sanguinaria • Bengali: নানথি শাক nanthi shak, পলতে কেশুত palte keshut, সলতে কেশুত salte keshut • Gujarati: વેલરો ગોરખ velro gorakh • Hindi: रेशमकाथा reshamkatha • Kannada: ಮತ್ಸ್ಯಾಕ್ಷಿ matsyakshi • Malayalam: പൊന്നാങ്കണ്ണി ponnaankanni • Marathi: कुसळ kusal • Sanskrit: मत्स्याक्षी matsyakshi • Tamil: பொன்னாங்காணி ponnankanni • Telugu: అడవి పున్నాగంటె అలము adavi punnaganti aalamu • Tulu: ಮೀನಂಕಣ್ಣಿ meenamkanni


botanical names: Alternanthera ficoidea (L.) P.Beauv. ... homotypic synonyms: Achyranthes ficoidea (L.) Lam. • Gomphrena ficoidea L. ... heterotypic synonyms: Alternanthera tenella Colla ... and more at POWO, retrieved 26 October 2025

Bibliography / etymology

Links listed as references in the notes below, may not remain valid permanently. Portals / websites have a tendency to re-organize / revise their content, leading to change in URLs of pages in their site. Some sites may even close down at their own will. The bits about the languages of India mentioned below are merely some bare facts gathered from the internet; just enough to satisfy curiosity about "where" could the listed names be best prevalent in India. All English transliterated names to be taken sensu amplo.

~~~~~ ENGLISH ~~~~~

written and spoken widely, in most parts of India

fig joyweed

• Flowers of India, retrieved October 26, 2025

sanguinaria

• Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)

~~~~~ BENGALI ~~~~~

written in: Bengali (বাংলা) ... spoken in: West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

নানথি শাক nanthi shak, পলতে কেশুত palte keshut, সলতে কেশুত salte keshut

• Many thanks to Shubhankar Patra for help with these names ... facebook

~~~~~ GUJARATI ~~~~~

written in: Gujarati (ગુજરાતી) ... spoken in: Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu

વેલરો ગોરખ velro gorakh

• વનસ્પતીઓ ના ગુજરાતી તથા બોટનીકલ નામ ની યાદી (વૈધ કે.જે.ઝાલા)

~~~~~ HINDI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (हिन्दी) ... spoken in: Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand

रेशमकाथा reshamkatha

• Kumar, Sanjeet. (2025). Wildlife Management in Latehar Forest Division: Enhancing Elephant Habitat Through Enumeration of Fodder Plants & Mitigation Measures-A Report 2025. 10.13140/RG.2.2.19994.30407.
• Richa Gupta, Priyanka Pal, Seema and Chanchal Malhotra - Floristic Vegetation Pattern Of Karnal City, Haryana, India - Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci., Special Issue [1]2022 : 740-752

~~~~~ KANNADA ~~~~~

written in: Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) ... spoken in: Karnataka

ಮತ್ಸ್ಯಾಕ್ಷಿ matsyakshi

• for Alternanthera tenella Colla ... Subrahmanya, Prasad K - Exploration and elucidation of traditional medicinal plants of erstwhile Tulunadu and surrounding area of Kerala and Karnataka - Shodhganga ... ಮತ್ಸ್ಯಾಕ್ಷಿ matsyakshi = fish eye, the plant's leaf alludes to the eye of fish

~~~~~ MALAYALAM ~~~~~

written in: Malayalam (മലയാളം) ... spoken in: Kerala, Lakshadweep

പൊന്നാങ്കണ്ണി ponnaankanni

• for Alternanthera tenella Colla ... Subrahmanya, Prasad K - Exploration and elucidation of traditional medicinal plants of erstwhile Tulunadu and surrounding area of Kerala and Karnataka - Shodhganga ... പൊന്നാങ്കണ്ണി ponnaankanni = golden eye, indicates it is as precious as gold for the eyes

~~~~~ MARATHI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (मराठी) ... spoken in: Maharashtra, Karnataka

कुसळ kusal

• for Alternanthera tenella Colla ... Further Flowers of Sahyadri by Shrikant Ingalhalikar, the second among the three field guides to identify plants of northern Western Ghats of India, based on flowers

~~~~~ SANSKRIT ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (संस्कृतम्) ... used all over India by priests and scholars

मत्स्याक्षी matsyakshi

• for Alternanthera tenella Colla ... Subrahmanya, Prasad K - Exploration and elucidation of traditional medicinal plants of erstwhile Tulunadu and surrounding area of Kerala and Karnataka - Shodhganga ... मत्स्याक्षी matsyakshi = fish eye, the plant's leaf alludes to the eye of fish

~~~~~ TAMIL ~~~~~

written in: Tamil (தமிழ்) ... spoken in: Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

பொன்னாங்காணி ponnankanni

• A, K., & V, M. K. (2019). Survey Of Wild Edible Plants Of Dhanakarkulam Panchayath, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India. Kongunadu Research Journal, 6(2), 20-27.

~~~~~ TELUGU ~~~~~

written in: Telugu ( తెలుగు) ... spoken in: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry

అడవి పున్నాగంటె అలము adavi punnaganti aalamu

• for Alternanthera tenella Colla ... Harriet V. Kuhnlein, Bill Erasmus, Dina Spigelski - Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: the many dimensions of culture, diversity and environment for nutrition and health - Chapter 9, pages: 185-208 - Traditional food system of Dalit in Zaheerabad Region, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India by Buduru Salomeyesudas and Periyapatna V. Satheesh © FAO 2009

~~~~~ TULU ~~~~~

written in: Tigalari (Tulu) was used for writing Vedic texts in Sanskrit, Kannada (ತುಳು), Malayalam (തുളു) ... spoken in: Karnataka, north Kerala

ಮೀನಂಕಣ್ಣಿ meenamkanni

• for Alternanthera tenella Colla ... Subrahmanya, Prasad K - Exploration and elucidation of traditional medicinal plants of erstwhile Tulunadu and surrounding area of Kerala and Karnataka - Shodhganga

~~~~~ KNOWN DISTRIBUTION in INDIA ~~~~~

naturalized: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal

• Hassler, Michael (1994 - 2025): World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Version 25.10; last update Oct. 12th, 2025. Last accessed 13/10/2025 (dd/mm/yyyy).
• Andhra Pradesh :: Harriet V. Kuhnlein, Bill Erasmus, Dina Spigelski - Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: the many dimensions of culture, diversity and environment for nutrition and health - Chapter 9, pages: 185-208 - Traditional food system of Dalit in Zaheerabad Region, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India by Buduru Salomeyesudas and Periyapatna V. Satheesh © FAO 2009
• Gujarat :: Checklist of Gujarat Flora
• Haryana :: Richa Gupta, Priyanka Pal, Seema and Chanchal Malhotra - Floristic Vegetation Pattern Of Karnal City, Haryana, India - Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci., Special Issue [1]2022 : 740-752
• Jharkhand :: Kumar, Sanjeet. (2025). Wildlife Management in Latehar Forest Division: Enhancing Elephant Habitat Through Enumeration of Fodder Plants & Mitigation Measures-A Report 2025. 10.13140/RG.2.2.19994.30407.

~~~~~ Created on: 18:32 26-10-2025 ¦ Last updated: 12:50 28-10-2025 (DD-MM-YYYY) ~~~~~

Names compiled / updated at https://dineshvalke.blogspot.com/2025/10/alternanthera-ficoidea-l-pbeauv.html

Regards.
Dinesh

[Sam Kuzhalanattu]

Fabulous image and nice work dear Dinesh ji, both Malayalam and English names are correct, regards, Sam.

[Dinesh Valke]

Thanks very much, Sam ji, for the appreciation, and for validating the Malayalam name and its English spelling.
Regards.
Dinesh

[Gurcharan Singh]

Very useful Compilation Dinesh ji.

[Dinesh Valke]

Many many thanks dear Vijayasankar ji, for the clarifications, and help with appropriate name for this plant.

Also thanks for the useful prefix "seemai சீமை" meaning foreign or exotic. 

I will update my notes shortly.

Regards.

Dinesh

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Vijay Raman <vijay.b...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Subject: Re: Names of Plants in India :: Alternanthera ficoidea (L.) P.Beauv.
To: Dinesh Valke <dinesh...@gmail.com>

You're welcome, Dinesh ji.

I notice that both spellings are used in the Tamil Lexicon (see below). Maybe one is derived from the other, but பொன்னாங்கண்ணி appears to be the one currently in use for A. sessilis. The spelling variation could be due to regional accents.

பொன்னாங்கண்ணி poṉ-ṉ-āṅ-kaṇṇi , n. < id. + கண்ணி. See பொன்னாங்காணி. Loc.

பொன்னாங்காணி poṉ-ṉ-āṅ-kāṇi , n. < பொன்னாங்கண்ணி. A plant growing in damp places, Alternanthera sessilis; பூடுவகை.

Tamil Lexicon also has a name for plants similar to A. sessilis:

பொன்னாங்காணிச்சக்களத்தி poṉṉāṅ-kāṇi-c-cakkaḷatti , n. < பொன்னாங்காணி +. A plant resembling poṉṉāṅkāṇi; பொன்னாங்காணி போன்ற பூடுவகை.

But I don't recommend using the term cakkalatti, which means co-wife (or second wife), even though you might see it used for some plants. 

Instead, we can use seemai ponnankanni சீமை பொன்னாங்கண்ணி, meaning "foreign or exotic Alternanthera (sessilis)". This name can also be used for any other exotic species of Alternanthera. 

Best,

Vijayasankar

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 1:03 PM Dinesh Valke <dinesh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Many thanks Vijayasankar ji for pointing out this ambiguity.

I did see this name being shared, but ignored as it was listed in a research article.

I will revise the spelling to பொன்னாங்கண்ணி 

I had picked up பொன்னாங்காணி ponnankani from Tamil Lexicon.

About adding a suitable prefix to  பொன்னாங்கண்ணி which would give a hint that it is a popular foreign species naturalized / used in India ... for example in Hindi / Marathi, a typical prefix is vilayati = of foreign land ... would it resolve ambiguity ?

I leave it to your thoughts.

Regards.

Dinesh

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 8:25 AM Vijay Raman <vijay.b...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Dinesh ji,

The correct Tamil spelling for Ponnanganni is பொன்னாங்கண்ணி. However, this name is mainly used for Alternanthera sessilis, not sure if it can be used for A. ficoidea as well.

Best regards,

Vijayasankar

[Dinesh Valke]

Thanks very much, Gurcharan ji, for the appreciation.
Regards.
Dinesh

[Dinesh Valke]

Tamil name revised / corrected for appropriateness ...

commonly known as: fig joyweed, sanguinaria • Bengali: নানথি শাক nanthi shak, পলতে কেশুত palte keshut, সলতে কেশুত salte keshut • Gujarati: વેલરો ગોરખ velro gorakh • Hindi: रेशमकाथा reshamkatha • Kannada: ಮತ್ಸ್ಯಾಕ್ಷಿ matsyakshi • Malayalam: പൊന്നാങ്കണ്ണി ponnaankanni • Marathi: कुसळ kusal • Sanskrit: मत्स्याक्षी matsyakshi • Tamil: சீமை பொன்னாங்கண்ணி seemai ponnankanni • Telugu: అడవి పున్నాగంటె అలము adavi punnaganti aalamu • Tulu: ಮೀನಂಕಣ್ಣಿ meenamkanni

Names compiled / updated at https://dineshvalke.blogspot.com/2025/10/alternanthera-ficoidea-l-pbeauv.html

Regards.
Dinesh

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