This species is native to India, globally distributed in the Paleotropics. It is cultivated all over India up to an altitude of 1500 m. It is an important pulse crop particularly in Madras, Mysore, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh. Kulattha is an annual, branched, sub-erect or twining, downy or glabrescent herb. Seeds are hard, surface smooth, ellipsoid, flattened, greyish to reddish brown, 4-6mm long and 4 mm wide, micropyle prominent, taste, somewhat astringent.OTHER NAME- English : Horse gram,  kulthi bean, hurali, Madras gram,  Hindi : Kulathi, Kulthi, Kurathi, Sanskrit :Khalva, Vardhipatraka, Urdu :Kulthi, Punjabi : Lodhar, Bengali : Kulattha, Kalaya, Gujrati :Kalathi, Kulathi, Kannada :Huruli, Hurali, Kashmiri : Kath, Malayalam :Mudiraa, Marathi :Kulitha, Tamil :Kollu, Kaanam, Telugu :Ulavalu.