Names of Plants in India :: Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng.

[Dinesh Valke]

Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng

¿ nel-SON-nee-uh ? -- for David Nelson, English gardener and botanist, gardener at Kew ... Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae
kan-ESS-kens -- grey hair, greyish ... Dave's Botanary

commonly known as: blue pussyleaf • Ahom: baghkaniya, udbhedeli • Bengali: পারামূল paramula • Hindi: बिजनोरी bijnori • Odia: ବର ରାସ୍ନା bada rasna • Santali: ᱡᱩᱜᱤᱴᱚᱯᱟ ᱵᱟᱦᱟ jugitopa baha


botanical names: Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng. ... homotypic synonyms: Justicia canescens Lam. ... heterotypic synonyms: Dianthera tomentosa Roxb. ex C.B.Clarke • Nelsonia campestris R.Br. ... and more at POWO, retrieved 04 July 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

blue pussyleaf

• Flowers of India, retrieved July 04, 2025

~~~~~ AHOM ~~~~~

written in: Ahom ... mainly used by priests and scholars for religious and educational purposes; spoken in: erstwhile Ahom kingdom (some part in present day Assam) ... other names for this language: Tai-Ahom

baghkaniya, udbhedeli

• Borah, Dipankar & Gogoi, Tridip & Sarma, Jintu & Borah, Punam & Gohain, Bichitra & Mili, Chiranjib & Upadhyaya, Ankur & Basumatary, Jenima & Neog, Kasturi & Wangpan, Tonlong & Tangjang, Sumpam. (2021). Compendium of plants used for preparation of traditional alcoholic beverages by four major ethnic communities of Assam, northeast India. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity. 22. 2019-2031. 10.13057/biodiv/d220451.
• the names need to be rendered in their native script

~~~~~ BENGALI ~~~~~

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

পারামূল paramula

• Many thanks to Jayantanath Sarkar for help with this name ... facebook

~~~~~ HINDI ~~~~~

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

बिजनोरी bijnori

• Sikarwar, Ram Lakhan & Dubey, Praveen & Khanna, K K & Tiwari, Arjun. (2024). Threat Assesment and Utilization of Medicinal Plants of Vindhyan Region, Madhya Pradesh.

~~~~~ ODIA ~~~~~

written in: Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ) ... spoken in: Odisha, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

ବର ରାସ୍ନା bada rasna

• Acharya R, Padiya RH, Patel ED, Rudrapa HC, Shukla VJ, Chauhan MG. Pharmacognostical evaluation of leaf of Bada Rasna [Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng.; Acanthaceae]. Anc Sci Life. 2012 Apr;31(4):194-7. doi: 10.4103/0257-7941.107359. PMID: 23661868; PMCID: PMC3644758.

~~~~~ SANTALI ~~~~~

written in: Ol Chiki (ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ), Bengali (সাঁওতালী), Odia (ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ), Devanagari (सान्ताली), Roman ... spoken in: Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha

ᱡᱩᱜᱤᱴᱚᱯᱟ ᱵᱟᱦᱟ jugitopa baha

• for Nelsonia campestris R.Br. ... A Santali-English dictionary by A. Campbell, of the Santal mission
• for Nelsonia campestris R.Br. ... ᱣᱤᱠᱤᱯᱤᱰᱤᱭᱟ - ᱢᱤᱫ ᱨᱟᱲᱟ ᱜᱮᱭᱟᱱ ᱯᱩᱛᱷᱤ ... Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

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

Andaman islands, *Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, *Bihar, *Gujarat, *Karnataka, *Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, *Maharashtra, *Manipur, *Meghalaya, *Mizoram, Odisha, *Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

• Hassler, Michael (1994 - 2025): World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Version 25.06; last update June 15th, 2025. Last accessed 04/07/2025 (dd/mm/yyyy).
• Gujarat :: Checklist of Gujarat Flora

* no given name / no name found in the regional language(s) of the state
In all probability, this species has naturalized in India.

~~~~~ Created on: 19:52 03-07-2025 ¦ Last updated: 14:05 05-07-2025 (DD-MM-YYYY) ~~~~~

Names compiled / updated at https://dineshvalke.blogspot.com/2025/07/nelsonia-canescens-lam-spreng.html

Regards.
Dinesh

[Dinesh Valke]

Dear Saroj ji,

This species is known to be distributed (naturalized) in some parts of Nepal.

Please help with Nepali name, if any. 

Regards.

Dinesh

[Sam Kuzhalanattu]

Nice picture and good work dear Dinesh ji.

Malayalam names are നീല പൂച്ചയില Neela Poochayila (Neela means blue, Poocha means pussy or cat, yila is ela means leaf) മയിൽ പുല്ല് Mayil Pullu (Mayil means peacock, pullu means grass) കോടപ്പുല്ല് Kodappullu (Koda means mist, pullu means grass), all Malayalam names are derived as per it's special hairy charector.

https://identify.plantnet.org/ml/k-world-flora/species/Nelsonia%20canescens%20(Lam.)%20Spreng./data

Regards, Sam.

[Dinesh Valke]

Thanks very very much, Sam ji, for the appreciation, for helping with the Malayalam names and their English spellings.

This is a great help.

Regards.
Dinesh

[Dinesh Valke]

Malayalam names added ...

commonly known as: blue pussyleaf • Ahom: baghkaniya, udbhedeli • Bengali: পারামূল paramula • Hindi: बिजनोरी bijnori • Malayalam: കോടപ്പുല്ല് kodappullu, മയിൽ പുല്ല് mayil pullu, നീല പൂച്ചയില neela poochayila • Odia: ବର ରାସ୍ନା bada rasna • Santali: ᱡᱩᱜᱤᱴᱚᱯᱟ ᱵᱟᱦᱟ jugitopa baha

Names compiled / updated at https://dineshvalke.blogspot.com/2025/07/nelsonia-canescens-lam-spreng.html

Regards.
Dinesh

[Gurcharan Singh]

Another beautiful compilation Dinesh ji.

[Dinesh Valke]

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