Ormocarpum sennoides
Elumbotti, the bone-knit shrub
- Also called South Indian caterpillar bush
- Tamil Elumbotti (எலும்பொட்டி), also elumboti
Straggling shrub, up to 3 m
What it is
Elumbotti is a straggling shrub of the pea family with small, many-leafleted leaves. It bears yellow pea-like flowers in short clusters in winter. The narrow pods are ridged along their length and covered in small warts and prickles, which gives the plant its caterpillar look. It grows wild in dry, rocky scrub and forest edges in peninsular India and Sri Lanka.
What it's used for
- Its Tamil name means bone joiner: in village tradition in Tamil Nadu the leaves are used as a paste and powder for broken bones.
- It is a hardy shrub of dry, rocky ground, able to grow where little else holds the soil.
Where we plant it
Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
Sadhana Forest, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India
Plant trees in this projectOur partners plant the mix of native species that suits each site and season, so a gift plants trees in the project rather than this one species. Ormocarpum sennoides is one of the species planted there.
Read more about Ormocarpum sennoides on powo.science.kew.org
More trees planted in Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
Climbing olaxOlax scandens
Bakul, Magizham or Spanish cherryMimusops elengi
Kaya or Ironwood treeMemecylon umbellatum
Notched-leaf spike thornMaytenus emarginata
Palai, Palu or KhirniManilkara hexandra
Pointed-leaf jasmineJasminum cuspidatum
Indian screw tree or ValampuriHelicteres isora
Grewia, a dry-country shrubGrewia rhamnifolia
See all 37 species in Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
