• Family : FABACEAE
  (PEA OR BEAN FAMILY)
• Family (as per The Plant List) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Mimosoideae
• Species : Pithecellobium dulce
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.
• Common name : Manila Tamarind, Sweet Tamarind
• Vernacular name : Vilayati Babul, Vilayati imli, Jangle-jalebi (Hin.); Seeme hunase, Parmunche kaayi mara (Kan.); Kodukkaapuli (Tam.); Simachinta (Tel.); Simakoina (Ori.)
• Key identification features : A medium-sized, deciduous tree with spinescent branches. Leaves are alternate, compound, with small leaflets. Flowers are minute, with tufts of long projecting stamens and aggregated into globose inflorescence. Pod is twisted, few-seeded with constrictions between seeds. The white spongy, edible part that covers the seed is an aril. Bark is light, grey with several horizontal branch-scars and vertical furrows.
• Habit : Tree
• Flower, Fruit : December-April; March-July
• Native : Tropical America
• Comments : Introduced in plains and naturalized on hills up to 1400 m. The aril is edible and sometimes sold in local markets.
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Distribution Locality : Throughout Eastern Ghats
• World Distribution : Tropics of the World
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2; 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; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Pithecellobium dulce. Downloaded on 29 June 2024.

Description

Field Images