• Family : SIMAROUBACEAE
  (QUASSIA FAMILY)
• Family (as per The Plant List) : Zygophyllaceae
• Species : Balanites roxburghii
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Balanites roxburghii Planch.
• Common name : Desert Date
• Vernacular name : Hingan (Hin.); Ingula, Ingalukke (Kan.); Nanjundan, Thoruvattu, Koolathi (Tam.); Gara, Gari (Tel.); Gouritvae (San.)
• Key identification features : A small tree with branchlets often ending in strong sharp spines. Bark yellowih-grey. Foliage ashy-grey. Leaves are 2-foliate. Flowers are small in axillary compact cymes, greenish and fragrant with a prominent 10-grooved conical disk at the center. Ovary is with a single locule and a pendulous ovule. Fruit is a 1-seeded drupe. Pulp with an offensive smell.
• Habit : Tree
• Flower, Fruit : March-May
• Native : India
• Comments : On foot hills of scrub jungles and in deciduous forests.
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Distribution Locality : Sandur Hills (Bellary district) (Karnataka State); Tiruchirapalli district (Tamil Nadu State); Prakasham district, Visakhapatnam district, Kurnool district, Guntur district, West Godavari district, Srikakulam district (Andhra Pradesh State)
• World Distribution : Africa, India, Myanmar, South-East Asia
• Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.; Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1 ; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District ; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam Distric; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
• 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=Balanites roxburghii. Downloaded on 1 July 2024.

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