Barleria prionitis is a shrub in the family Acanthaceae, native to Island and Mainland Southeast Asia, China, the Indian Subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa.

A much-branched shrub up to 1.8m tall, the lower leaf axils have spines 1–2 cm in length, one of the specific features of this Barleria.

; B. induta C.B.Clarke The nominate subspecies is native to areas of Island and Mainland Southeast Asia, Zhōngguó/China, and the Indian subcontinent as far west as Pakistan.

[7] The countries/divisions in which it is present are Indonesia (Maluku, Nusa Tenggara, Bali, Sulawesi, Jawa), Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Zhōngguó/China (Yunnan), Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar (Kachin, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, & Yangon),[11] Bangladesh, India (Nicobar Islands, Assam, Laccadive Islands), the West Himalaya region, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Pakistan.

There is uncertainty that the plant is native to, naturalised to, or cultivated in the following regions: Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal), and Madagascar.

[9] Some of the habitats in which the shrub is found include roadsides, thickets, and dry places in evergreen broad-leaved forests.

[16] There are numerous common names of this plant, they include: aimatamutik (Tetum);[17] landhek (Gili Iyang Island, Indonesia);[18] landep (Sundanese), bungak landak (Malay);[19] 黄花假杜鹃, huang hua jia du juan (Standard Chinese);[1] leik-su-ywe, leik-hsu shwe, leik tha-shwe war (Myanmar);[11] kukong manok (Tagalog); kuranta (Sanskrit); vjradanti, वज्रदंती (Marathi), Kannada: ಗೋರಟೆ Tamil: சுள்ளி மலர்;,[20] Mulla gorinta(ముళ్ళగోరింట, Telugu), മഞ്ഞക്കനകാംബരം (Malayalam);[21] jhinti katsareya (India);[13] khussara, kala bansa (Pakistan);[4] barrelière prionite,[22] herbe tac-tac, jasmin des Indes, picanier jaune (French); Drachenfänger (German language); espinosa amarilla (Spanish); porcupine flower (US English); barleria,[11][5] dog bush[22] (English), yellow hedge barleria;[23] In Pakistan shrubs are grown as a hedge while its bitter quinine-like extract is used in traditional medicine to treat whooping cough and tuberculosis.

[18] Parts of the plant are bitter, astringent in taste, and are regarded in Myanmar as highly beneficial for skin, blood and other diseases.

[11] Often combined with sesame oil and fermented-rice washing-water, the whole plant, leaves (sometimes burnt to ash or crushed for juice), stems, branches, and roots are used together or separately.

In India the root is placed on boils and glandular swellings; the bark is used for dropsy; and the leaf for toothache and rheumatism.