• Family : FLACOURTIACEAE
  (Flacourtia Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : CHILLA FAMILY (चिल्ला फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : SALICACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Flacourtia ramontchi L'Hér.; Flacourtia sepiaria Roxb.; Flacourtia sapida Roxb.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Flacourtia indica (Burm. f.) Merr.
• Common name : Governer's Plum, Madagascar Plum, Batoko palm
• Vernacular name : Katahi, Bilangoa, Kanjubainch (Hindi); Mulluthare, Miradi (Kannada); Kodikkarai, Katukalai, Sottaikalai, Kodumundi (Tamil); Kanregu, Putikatada, Kuragayi (Telugu); Baincho, Sanobainchi, Kontadhwara, Mamuri, Balibaincho, Kontaikuli (Oria); Aghori, Vikankata, Kanchu, Bilangra (Sanskrit); Girgot, Kakai, Anthrun, Bhenkal, Panavla, Galgughar (Marathi); Aghori, Cherumullikkachedi, Karkkadappazham, Karimulli, Kattukara, Oushadakkara, Ramontchi, Mullikkachedi, Vayankkaitha (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Deciduous forests, scrub jungles and also in the plains
• Comments / notes : Common in wet deciduous forests between 500-1000m. . Fruit is used in the treatment of jaundice and enlarged spleen, also a table fruit. Bark is astringent and diuretic.
• Key identification features : Densely foliaceous, evergreen, stiff, sout shrub to small tree, with arching branches. New shoots with elongate thorns and coppery foliage. Fruit persistent, red when ripe
• Flower, Fruit : December-August
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mehboobnagar district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district, Kolar district, Chamarajanagar district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : All disricts of Maharashtra
  • Odisha : All district of Odisha
  • Tamil Nadu : All districts of Tamil Nadu
• World Distribution : Paleotropics, Madagascar to Indo-Malesia
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Franklin Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy, 2013. Flora of Sri Venkateswara National Park, Andhra Pradesh, BSI; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.; N.P. Singh, P. Lakshminarasimhan, S. Karthikeyan & P. V. Prasanna (2001). Flora of Maharashtra state, Dicotyledones. Vol. 2. Botanical survey of India, Govt. India.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Flacourtia indica. Downloaded on 30 April 2024.

Botanical Description

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