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Leptadenia pyrotechnica

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lep-ta-DEE-nee-a or lep-ta-DEN-ee-a — thin glands … Dave’s Botanary
pie-ro-TEK-ni-ka — Greek: pyr (fire); techne (art, craft, or skill); translates literally to “fire-working” … compiled from the web
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commonly known as: Cutch broom shrub • Bhili: खीम्परा kheempara, थालियावार thaliyawar • Gujarati: ખીપડોડી khipadodi • Haryanvi: खीप khip • Hindi: खींप kheemp • Kachchhi: ખીપ khip • Marwari: जीवंती jivanti, खींप kheemp, खींप्रा khimpra • Punjabi: ਖਿਪ khip • Sanskrit: जीवन्ती jivanti, महामेद mahameda • Sindhi: کِپَ khip • Urdu: کھِپّ khipp
Names compiled / updated at https://dineshvalke.blogspot.com/2026/09/leptadenia-pyrotechnica-forssk-decne.html

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Shrub to ID : 21102012 : RV 1:
Please help to identify this small shrub…..I found it flowering in Tal Chappar wildlife Sanctuary in Churu district of Rajasthan between Ratangarh & Sujjangarh about 220 km from Jaipur. This area is located on the fringe of the Great Indian Desert, famous for large number of Black Bucks, has sandy saline soil with open grassland scattered with Acasia nilotica, Prosopis cineraria, Parkinsonia aculeata, Capparis decidua etc.

I hope Leptadaenia pyrotechnica (Asclepiadaceae, now Apocynaceae).

I wonder why pyrotechnica????? its used for roofs of huts,
if it combusts spontaneously it could not have been useful for thatching… so makes me wonder…. ???

Perhaps answer may be linked here:
“The pith in the stems is used as tinder, and the twigs also make an inextinguishable slow-match.”
Or here
“the specific epithet pyrotechnica …..was given as Forsskal noticed that Arabs were using fibres of its stem to produce fire using stone and flint”

Please accept my sincere thanks for putting up so much efforts to identify and share such wonderful information about the plants with us……I have been into finance all through my career….its only since last 5 years I have been deeply influenced by plants and trying to understand them, learn about them……I have gained and learned a lot by being part this group.

This can be Sarcostemma or Leptadenia. Most likely Leptadenia.
Pyrotechnica is a strange name :). “fire technique” Thanks to … for brining this into light…

you are welcome… you are doing a great thing with the walks
I want to know when was this picture taken.. what month that is.. what season?
and do you know what is the lighter colored clump in front of the base off this plant?

This picture was taken on 16th October, this year, in Tal Chappar, in a scrub land, the soil was very sandy, its in Churu dist of Rajasthan about 220 Km from Jaipur……. I am attaching another pictures where you can see the clump very clearly…. I too wanted to know about this growth so took the close up of it.

Identification of the plant:
Pls give the ID assistance to this plant
This plant from Rajasthan, Sikar District
Common name is Khir Kheep, It is a leaf less plant

Leptadenia pyrotechnica, I suppose.

It could be Capparis aphylla since it is leafless and arid zone plant

Let me through a guess too: why not Sarcostemma ?

It was a guess since C. aphylla is known as Karil Nevati and it is leafless. However Khir Kheep is name given to Leptadenia pyrotechnica so it is possible that is correct

The vernacular name ‘Kheep’ is correlated to Leptadenia pyrotechnica in this paper: http://www.academicjournals.SharmaandKumar.pdf
It is also known as khimp in Hindi and Urdu, “Khipp” in Punjabi as per Wiki. (note these names are slight variations of ‘kheep’!)

… may be able to tell us about habit of the plant and presence or absence of latex/sap. As far as I know Capparis do not have latex/sap.
Sarcostemma species have watery or milky sap, and Leptadenia pyrotechnica has watery sap. Of these, the former is a climber that grows on other shrubs, whereas, the latter species is an erect bushy shrub.

Khip and Khir khip both are different plants
but it is different not Laptadenia pyrotechnica

though its hard to say without the leaf and flower fruit but According to the size of the plant in compare to the drying paper this plant is Leptadenia pyrotechnica only and the local name of Khip is well known for Leptadenia pyrotechnica as the friut of the plant use as local vegetable
for more you can read the following link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptadenia_pyrotechnica
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250077208

It is Leptadenia pyrotechnica a desert plant.

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Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne. : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (1)
Leafless shrub near Bikanir Rajasthan

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Leptadenia pyrotechnica :  4 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (8)
Did a Desert cycling expedition near Jaisalmer in December 2017. It was unique experience as we got opportunity to explore Sam-Sand Dunes and Sudasari Sand Dunes along with Desert National Park. Got to see some Desert Flora..
Seen this bushy herb in Desert near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
Bot. name: Leptadenia pyrotechnica
Local name: Khip
Family: Asclepiadaceae
Fantastic stamina, dear …!! Sports + flora … rare combination !!
Nice finding!
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Leptadenia pyrotechnica
Clicked the pics in Jaisalmer, RJ in March 2018.
The eFI site is helping me to identify many new species immediately on seeing them. Before my travel I now search eFI for the general flora of that region and the new improved pages really help to identify or narrow down to some IDs. Thank you … and all the others who are taking so much efforts to build this site.

Thanks a lot, …, for wonderful images and feedback about the site.

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Leptadenia pyrotechnica :: Jaisalmer :: 25 OCT 18 : 2 posts by 2 authors. 5 images.
Jaisalmer  … the golden city
Date: October 25, 2018 … Altitude: about 225 m (740 feet) asl
Leptadenia pyrotechnica  (Forssk.) Decne.
Names of Plants in India :: Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne.: 1 image.
Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne.

lep-ta-DEE-nee-a or lep-ta-DEN-ee-a — thin glands … Dave’s Botanary
pie-ro-TEK-ni-ka — Greek: pyr (fire); techne (art, craft, or skill); translates literally to “fire-working” … compiled from the web
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commonly known as: Cutch broom shrub • Bhili: खीम्परा kheempara, थालियावार thaliyawar • Gujarati: ખીપડોડી khipadodi • Haryanvi: खीप khip • Hindi: खींप kheemp • Kachchhi: ખીપ khip • Marwari: जीवंती jivanti, खींप kheemp, खींप्रा khimpra • Punjabi: ਖਿਪ khip • Sanskrit: जीवन्ती jivanti, महामेद mahameda • Sindhi: کِپَ khip • Urdu: کھِپّ khipp

known for / parts made use of: almost all parts of the plant: stems and branches, pods (fruits), sap and latex, roots, flowers and shoots … compiled from the web

botanical names: Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne. … homotypic synonyms: Cynanchum pyrotechnicum Forssk. • Microloma pyrotechnicum (Forssk.) Spreng. • Periploca pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Spreng. ex Decne. • Sarcostemma pyrotechnicum (Forssk.) Schult. … heterotypic synonyms: Gymnema spartium (Wight) Wall. • Leptadenia gracilis G.Don • Leptadenia jacquemontiana Decne. • Leptadenia spartum Wight • Microloma angustifolium Buch.-Ham. ex Hook.f. … POWO, retrieved September 24, 2026

Bibliography / etymology / notes
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
Cutch broom shrub
  • for Leptadenia spartum Wight … કચ્છ સ્વસ્થાન ની વનસ્પતિઓ ઠાકર જયકૃષ્ણ ઇન્દ્રજી 1926 [PLANTS OF CUTCH AND THEIR UTILITY by THAKAR, JAIKRISHNA INDRAJI, 1926]
~~~~~ BHILI ~~~~~
written in: Devanagari (भीली), Gujarati (ભીલી) … spoken in: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra … other names or dialects of this language: Bhilboli, Bhagoria, Garasia, Vagadi (or Wagdi)
खीम्परा kheempara, थालियावार thaliyawar
~~~~~ GUJARATI ~~~~~
written in: Gujarati (ગુજરાતી) … spoken in: Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu
ખીપડોડી khipadodi (or ખીપ khip)
~~~~~ HARYANVI ~~~~~
written in: Devanagari (हरियाणवी or हरयाणवी) … spoken in: Haryana, Delhi
खीप khip (or खिप khip)
~~~~~ HINDI ~~~~~
written in: Devanagari (हिन्दी) … spoken in: Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand
खींप kheemp
~~~~~ KACHCHHI ~~~~~
written in: Gujarati (કચ્છી), Sindhi (ڪڇّي) … spoken in: Kutch region of Gujarat
ખીપ khip (or દરિયાઈ ખીપ dariyai khip)
  • for Leptadenia spartum Wight … કચ્છ સ્વસ્થાન ની વનસ્પતિઓ ઠાકર જયકૃષ્ણ ઇન્દ્રજી 1926 [PLANTS OF CUTCH AND THEIR UTILITY by THAKAR, JAIKRISHNA INDRAJI, 1926]
  • Patel, Yatin & Patel, Rohitkumar & Pankaj, Joshi & Dabgar, Yogesh. (2011). Study of the Angiospermic flora of Kachchh district, Gujarat, India. Life Sciences Leaflets. 19. 739-768. … (downloaded: Feb 9, 2022)
~~~~~ MARWARI ~~~~~
written in: Devanagari (मारवाड़ी) … spoken in: Rajasthan, Gujarat … other names for this language: Marwadi
जीवंती jivanti
खींप kheemp (or खीप kheep)
खींप्रा khimpra
~~~~~ PUNJABI ~~~~~
written in: Gurmukhi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ) … spoken in: Punjab
ਖਿਪ khip
~~~~~ SANSKRIT ~~~~~
written in: Devanagari (संस्कृतम्) … used all over India by priests and scholars
जीवन्ती jivanti, महामेद mahameda
~~~~~ SINDHI ~~~~~
written in: Perso-Arabic (سِنڌِي), Gujarati (સિંધી), Devanagari (सिन्धी) … spoken in: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan
کِپَ khip
  • Many thanks to Noor Ahmed Janjhi for help with this name … facebook
~~~~~ URDU ~~~~~
written in: Urdu (اردو) … spoken in: Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka
کھِپّ khipp
~~~~~ KNOWN DISTRIBUTION in INDIA ~~~~~
Delhi, Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh
~~~~~ Created on: 17:27 24-09-2026 ¦ Last updated: 14:48 25-09-2026 (DD-MM-YYYY) ~~~~~

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References:
Updated on September 27, 2026

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