Names of Plants in India: Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis (Roxb. ex Hardw.) Mabb.

¿ flo-GO-ah-KAN-thus ? -- Greek: phlogos (flame); ákantha (thorn) ... Dave's Botanary
¿ thur-SEE-for-miss ? -- flowers arranged in form of thyrse (a flower cluster with a central spike that has side branches also clustered with flowers) ... Dave's Botanary

commonly known as: Himalayan ruellia, red flame-acanthus • Ahom: titaphul • Assamese: ৰঙা বাহক ronga-bahoka, তিতাবাহক titabahak, তিতাফূল titaphul • Bengali: লাল বাসক lal basak • Bodo: barshikha bibar goja • Chakma: basakpata • Garhwali: kaldona, kawadoni • Garo: ellot, kimchit, verua kain cheit • Hajong: chunchuni tita • Hindi: चुहाई chuhai, लाल बासक lal basak • Jaintia: jia merembut • Karbi: jakan, jaogan, rambha arong, tadongmiow • Khasi: barsiku, baskabomphang, dieng-soh-ja-buid, dieng-soh-kajut, ja-boit, jathang-heh, soh-ja-jut, tadang-kakseu • Kumaoni: kaldona, kawadoni • Lepcha: rheeom, sumcher • Manipuri: ꯅꯣꯡꯃꯥꯡꯈꯥ ꯑꯉꯥꯡꯕꯥ নোঙমাঙখা অঙাঙবা nongmangkha angangba • Maring: shimrim • Michi: bashkah • Mishing: লাল ভাচাক lal-vasak, তিতা ভাচাক tita-vasak • Mizo: kawldai-par-eng, khumtiangkohha • Nepali: चुवा chuwaa, तिते tite • Nyishi: keralang • Rabha: chakkai mekha, khakai par • Tangkhul: sipchang • Tangsa: phikhip

botanical names: Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis (Roxb. ex Hardw.) Mabb. ... homotypic synonyms: Justicia thyrsiformis Roxb. ex Hardw. ... heterotypic synonyms: Justicia thyrsiflora Roxb. • Justicia thyrsoides Roxb. ex Nees • Phlogacanthus longisepalus Bremek. • Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... POWO, retrieved 09 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

Himalayan ruellia

Mallick J K. 2020. An annotated checklist of Dicotyledonus Angiosperms in Darjeeling Himalayas and foothills, West Bengal, India. J New Biol Rep 9(2): 94- 208.

red flame-acanthus

Flowers of India, retrieved July 09, 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

titaphul

Ethnobotanyofnortheastindia (2020 onwards). Database of names of useful plants of north-east India - developed by the members of ethnobotanyofnortheastindia Google-site ... Accessed on 09 July 2025
the name needs to be rendered in native script

~~~~~ ASSAMESE ~~~~~

written in: Assamese (অসমীয়া) ... spoken in: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya

ৰঙা বাহক ronga-bahoka, তিতাবাহক titabahak, তিতাফূল titaphul

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Flora of Assam Vol III by U N Kanjilal, P C Kanjilal, A Das, R N De

~~~~~ BENGALI ~~~~~

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

লাল বাসক lal basak

Barnali Gogoi, Bibhuti Bhusan Kakoti, Nilutpal Sharma Bora, Ashis Kr. Goswami - Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus Nees: A Review - Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 23(2), Nov – Dec 2013; nᵒ 31, 175-179

~~~~~ BODO ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari or Latin ... spoken in: Assam ... other names for this language: Boro

barshikha bibar goja

Dipali Deka (2007) - Ethno medico botanical study of certain tribes of Goalpara district, Assam - Shodhganga

~~~~~ CHAKMA ~~~~~

written in: Chakma (𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦 𑄞𑄌𑄴, Changhma Bhach or Ajha Path), Latin, Bengali ... spoken in: Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam ... spoken by: the Chakma (or Changhma) people and Daingnet people

basakpata

Das, Sudipta & Duttachoudhury, Manabendra. (2009). Ethno-Medicobotanical Observations On Some Tribal Communities Of Tripura State. Pleione. 3. 89-95.

~~~~~ GARHWALI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (गढ़वळि) ... spoken in: Uttarakhand

kaldona, kawadoni

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Shri R L Badhwar and Dr R R Fernandez - Edible Wild Plants of the Himalayas - The Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun
the name needs to be rendered in native script

~~~~~ GARO ~~~~~

written in: Roman, Bengali-Assamese, A-Chik Tok'birim ... spoken in: Meghalaya, Assam

ellot

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Flora of Assam Vol III by U N Kanjilal, P C Kanjilal, A Das, R N De

kimchit

Dipali Deka (2007) - Ethno medico botanical study of certain tribes of Goalpara district, Assam - Shodhganga

verua kain cheit

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Kayang, Highland. (2007). Tribal knowledge on wild edible plants of Meghalaya, Northeast India. Indian J Trad Knowledge. 6. 177-181.

~~~~~ HAJONG ~~~~~

written in: Bengali-Assamese (হাজং), Latin ... spoken in: Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal

chunchuni tita

Dipali Deka (2007) - Ethno medico botanical study of certain tribes of Goalpara district, Assam - Shodhganga

~~~~~ HINDI ~~~~~

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

चुहाई chuhai

name prevalent in Bihar ... B. Das and P. Saha - A Review on Antidiabetic Potential of Plant Flavonoids in Acanthaceae Family Edible Plants of West Bengal - Indian J Pharm Sci 2024;86(3):805-817
the name rendered in native script needs validation

लाल बासक lal basak

Barnali Gogoi, Bibhuti Bhusan Kakoti, Nilutpal Sharma Bora, Ashis Kr. Goswami - Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus Nees: A Review - Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 23(2), Nov – Dec 2013; nᵒ 31, 175-179

~~~~~ JAINTIA ~~~~~

written in: Roman ... spoken in: Meghalaya, Assam ... exonyms: Jaintia, Synteng; endonym: Pnar

jia merembut

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Kayang, Highland. (2007). Tribal knowledge on wild edible plants of Meghalaya, Northeast India. Indian J Trad Knowledge. 6. 177-181.

~~~~~ KARBI ~~~~~

written in: Roman ... spoken in: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland ... other names for this language: Mikir or Arleng

jakan, jaogan, rambha arong

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Flora of Assam Vol III by U N Kanjilal, P C Kanjilal, A Das, R N De

tadongmiow

Dutta, Barnali & Sarma, Jatindra & Borthakur, Sashin. (2016). Diversity and Ethnobotany of the Genus Phlogacanthus Nees in Assam, India. International Journal of Life-Sciences Scientific Research. 2. 10.21276/ijlssr.2016.2.4.25.

~~~~~ KHASI ~~~~~

written in: Latin (Khasi alphabet), Bengali-Assamese ... spoken in: Meghalaya, Assam

barsiku, baskabomphang, dieng-soh-ja-buid, dieng-soh-kajut, ja-boit, jathang-heh, soh-ja-jut

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Flora of Assam Vol III by U N Kanjilal, P C Kanjilal, A Das, R N De

tadang-kakseu

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Parkash V. 2021. Floristic and ethnic perspective on wild forest plant species of Nongkhyllem Reserve Forest, Nongpoh, Meghalaya, India. Asian J Ethnobiol 4: 93-105.

~~~~~ KUMAONI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari ... spoken in: Uttarakhand

kaldona, kawadoni

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... The Useful Plants of India, Publications & Information Directorate, CSIR
the name needs to be rendered in native script

~~~~~ LEPCHA ~~~~~

written in: Lepcha (or Róng), Tibetan ... spoken in: Sikkim, West Bengal

rheeom

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... The Useful Plants of India, Publications & Information Directorate, CSIR
the name needs to be rendered in native script

sumcher

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Shri R L Badhwar and Dr R R Fernandez - Edible Wild Plants of the Himalayas - The Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun
the name needs to be rendered in native script

~~~~~ MANIPURI ~~~~~

written in: Meiteilon (ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ), Bengali-Assamese ... spoken in: Manipur ... other names for this language: Meetei

ꯅꯣꯡꯃꯥꯡꯈꯥ ꯑꯉꯥꯡꯕꯥ নোঙমাঙখা অঙাঙবা nongmangkha angangba

Flowers of India, retrieved July 09, 2025

~~~~~ MARING ~~~~~

written in: Meitei (ꯃꯔꯤꯡ) ... spoken in: Manipur ... spoken by Maring people ... not to be confused with the Maring language of New Guinea

shimrim

Flowers of India, retrieved July 09, 2025

~~~~~ MICHI ~~~~~

written in: Idu Azobra, recently developed, or Latin ... spoken in: some districts of Arunachal Pradesh ... spoken by: Idu Mishmi people ... other names for this language: Idu Mishmi ... considered endangered

bashkah

for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Shri R L Badhwar and Dr R R Fernandez - Edible Wild Plants of the Himalayas - The Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun

~~~~~ MISHING ~~~~~

written in: Assamese, Devanagari, Latin ... spoken in: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh ... other names for this language: Mising, Plains Miri

লাল ভাচাক lal-vasak, তিতা ভাচাক tita-vasak

Ethnobotanyofnortheastindia (2020 onwards). Database of names of useful plants of north-east India - developed by the members of ethnobotanyofnortheastindia Google-site ... Accessed on 09 July 2025

~~~~~ MIZO ~~~~~

written in: Latin, Bengali-Assamese ... spoken in: Mizoram ... other names for this language: Lushai, Duhlian

kawldai-par-eng

Flowers of India, retrieved July 09, 2025

khumtiangkohha

Rai, Prabhat. (2011). Ethnomedicinal Plants of India with Special Reference to an Indo-Burma Hotspot Region: An overview. Ethnobotany Research and Applications. 9. 379-429. 10.17348/era.9.0.379-420.

~~~~~ NEPALI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (नेपाली) ... spoken in: Nepal, West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim

चुवा chuwaa, तिते tite

Many thanks to Saroj Kumar Kasaju for help with these names ... efloraofindia

~~~~~ NYISHI ~~~~~

written in: Latin ... spoken in: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam ... spoken by the Daffla (or Dafla) tribe, now known as Nyishi tribe ... other names for this language: Nishi, Nisi, Nishang, Nissi, Nyising, Leil, Aya, Akang, Bangni-Bangru, Solung

keralang

Ethnobotanyofnortheastindia (2020 onwards). Database of names of useful plants of north-east India - developed by the members of ethnobotanyofnortheastindia Google-site ... Accessed on 09 July 2025

~~~~~ RABHA ~~~~~

written in: Assamese (ৰাভা), Bengali, English ... spoken in: Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Meghalaya

chakkai mekha, khakai par

Dipali Deka (2007) - Ethno medico botanical study of certain tribes of Goalpara district, Assam - Shodhganga

~~~~~ TANGKHUL ~~~~~

written in: Latin, Meitei (ꯇꯥꯡꯈꯨꯜ) ... spoken in: Manipur, Nagaland ... spoken by: Tangkhul people

sipchang

Sumitra Salam (2013) - Ethnobotanical study of the Tangkhul Naga tribe in Ukhrul district, Manipur state - Shodhganga

~~~~~ TANGSA ~~~~~

written in: Tangsa, Latin ... spoken in: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam ... other names for this language: Tase and Tase Naga ... spoken by: Tangshang people or Tangsa Naga

phikhip

Ethnobotanyofnortheastindia (2020 onwards). Database of names of useful plants of north-east India - developed by the members of ethnobotanyofnortheastindia Google-site ... Accessed on 09 July 2025

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

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal

Hassler, Michael (1994 - 2025): World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Version 25.07; last update July 5th, 2025. Last accessed 09/07/2025 (dd/mm/yyyy).
Assam :: for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Flora of Assam Vol III by U N Kanjilal, P C Kanjilal, A Das, R N De
Manipur :: Sumitra Salam (2013) - Ethnobotanical study of the Tangkhul Naga tribe in Ukhrul district, Manipur state - Shodhganga
Meghalaya :: for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Kayang, Highland. (2007). Tribal knowledge on wild edible plants of Meghalaya, Northeast India. Indian J Trad Knowledge. 6. 177-181.
Mizoram :: Rai, Prabhat. (2011). Ethnomedicinal Plants of India with Special Reference to an Indo-Burma Hotspot Region: An overview. Ethnobotany Research and Applications. 9. 379-429. 10.17348/era.9.0.379-420.
Tripura :: Das, Sudipta & Duttachoudhury, Manabendra. (2009). Ethno-Medicobotanical Observations On Some Tribal Communities Of Tripura State. Pleione. 3. 89-95.
Uttarakhand :: for Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees ... Shri R L Badhwar and Dr R R Fernandez - Edible Wild Plants of the Himalayas - The Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun