Tephrosia purpurea – Common Tephrosia

Larval Host Plant

Catochrysops strabo – Forget-me-not
Pseudozizeeria maha – Pale Grass Blue
Zizina otis – Lesser Grass Blue

Nectar Plant

Chilades parrhasius – Small Cupid
Leptotes plinius – Zebra Blue
Tarucus nara – Striped Pierrot
Zizula hylax – Tiny Grass Blue
Eurema spp. – Grass Yellow spp.
Eurema brigitta – Small Grass Yellow

BOI-pnw286 , BOI-pnw287 , BOI-pnw288 , BOI-pnw289 ez901 , ez900 ez905 , ez904 , ez903 , ez902 er469 , er468 , er467 , er466 cd626 , cd625 bz594 bn084

Other notes

Natural History: Native Perennial Sub-shrub
It is a perennial sub-shrub with compound leaves, found in drier regions from tropical Africa to northern Australia. The flowers are pea-like, ranging in color from pink to purple, and appear in 4-6 flowered racemes. The fruits are flat, linear pods containing 2-8 seeds. The flowering season is from October to January (Flowers of India 2024; WFO 2024).

Notes: This plant has been recorded as a new larval host plant for Zizina otis – Lesser Grass Blue by Rajesh Prabhakar Mahajan from Vadodara, Gujarat in July 2020.

Other Common Names: Purple Tephrosia, Wild Indigo (Flowers of India 2024).

Vernacular Names: Bengali: Bannilgach (বননীলগাছ);  Gujarati: Ghodakan (ઘોડાકાન);  Hindi: Sarphonk (सरफोंक), Sharpunkha (शरपुंखा);  Kannada: Empali (ಎಂಪಲಿ), Koggi (ಕೊಗ್ಗಿ), Koggili (ಕೊಗ್ಗಿಲಿ), Punike (ಪುಣಿಕೆ), Marali (ಮರಳಿ), Sharapunkhi (ಶರಪುಂಖಿ), Vajraneeli (ವಜ್ರನೀಲಿ), Honnaavarike (ಹೊನ್ನಾವರಿಕೆ);  Malayalam: Kozhinjil;  Marathi: Sharpankha (शरपुंखा), Unhali (उन्हाळी);  Nepali: Kande sakhinu, Sakinu;  Oriya: Soropunkha (ଶରପୁଙ୍ଖା);  Sanskrit: Sarapunkha (शरपुंखा);  Tamil: Kavali (காவாளி), Kolluk-kay-velai (கொள்ளுக்காய்வேளை), Kawati, Kolinchi;  Urdu: Sarphoka (ﺳﺮﭘﮭﻮﰷ), Sarphooka (ﺳﺮﭘﮭﻮﰷ), Sarphuka (ﺳﺮﭘﮭﻮﰷ) (Flowers of India 2024).

References:
Flowers of India (2024): Common Tephrosia. Accessed on 22 Jan 2024. (URL)
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(4): 11495–11550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550.
WFO (2024): Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.. Accessed on 22 Jan 2024. (URL)

Page citation

Churi, P., R. P. Mahajan, and N. Kawthankar. 2025. Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers. – Common Tephrosia. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/tephrosia-purpurea, accessed 2025/05/20.