Keezhanelli (Phyllanthus amarus)

Keezhanelli is Phyllanthus amarus, a tiny annual whose leaves hide minute flowers under the rachis. Hindi trade often says bhui amla or bhumyamalaki. English papers still say Phyllanthus niruri for Indian material that is usually this species. P. niruri is a different species, and the tangle is the story.

Botanical name: Phyllanthus amarus Schumach. & Thonn.
Family: Phyllanthaceae
Tamil: Keezhanelli
Hindi: Bhui amla
Sanskrit: Bhūmyāmalakī
Parts used: Whole herb
Habit: Small annual of damp disturbed ground
Last updated: 2026-10-30

How to recognise Keezhanelli

Schumacher and Thonning published Phyllanthus amarus. The family is Phyllanthaceae (older books say Euphorbiaceae). It is a small erect annual with compound-looking leafy shoots; flowers and fruits sit under the apparent leaves, which is why Tamil says keezh-anelli — the nelli underneath.

Phyllanthus niruri L. is a related name used for American and older Indian material. Many Indian collections filed as P. niruri have been redetermined as P. amarus. Indian material in those papers may be P. amarus even when the title says niruri.

Phyllanthus emblica (amla, nellikkai) is a tree. Sharing the “nelli” syllable does not make a weed and a tree the same fruit.

Tamil keezhanelli, Hindi bhui amla and Sanskrit bhūmyāmalakī are the names when the seller means this little herb. “Stone breaker” is a tropical English nickname shared with other Phyllanthus and even with unrelated plants. Nicknames are not botany.

Look at a living plant after rain: the tiny fruits hang in a row under the leafy branchlets. A bitter capsule labelled only niruri is a literature problem, not a field mark.

Several small Phyllanthus weeds share a bund. P. debilis and P. urinaria turn up in the same handful if no one looks.

Traditional use of Keezhanelli

Siddha and Tamil household

Keezhanelli is a rainy-season herb in South Indian practice, often crushed whole. Household use is common. It is not a treatment for liver or kidney disease.

Tamil vernacular and Siddha naming

Ayurveda

Bhūmyāmalakī is a small Phyllanthus in that system. Traditional “liver” headings are historical. They are not a hepatology claim.

Ayurvedic materia medica headings

Modern notes on Keezhanelli

Papers on “P. niruri” and papers on P. amarus are easy to conflate. Read the methods: where was the plant collected, and who named it?

The practical modern issue is the name tangle plus whole-herb powders that could be any small Phyllanthus.

Keezhanelli safety

Whole herb as a traditional crush is the ordinary rural exposure. Capsules of unnamed Phyllanthus are not that crush.

People with liver disease already should not self-dose a “liver herb.” That is the opposite of caution.

Pregnant people should not start extracts from a monsoon-poster claim.

Ecology and sourcing

It is a weed of wet disturbed ground. The conservation problem is mislabelling, not extinction.

Related plants

Also in Phyllanthaceae

Questions about Keezhanelli

Is keezhanelli the same as Phyllanthus niruri?

Often the packet means this Indian annual, P. amarus, even when it prints niruri. The two names are not safely interchangeable.

Is Keezhanelli the same as amla?

No. Amla is the tree Phyllanthus emblica. Keezhanelli is a small annual.

Sources

Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.