Herbarium JCB

Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre

Family : FABACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Subfamily : Faboideae
Species : Pongamia pinnata
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre
Common name : Indian Elm
Vernacular name : Karanja (San.); Karanj (Hin.); Hongemara (Kan.)
Collection Nos : KFP 2573, KFP 11618, HFP 2080
Key identification features : A medium-sized deciduous tree. Leaves are imparipinnate with 2-3 pairs of broad leaflets, often seen with galls. Flowers are in short clusters, pea-like and whitish-pink. Fruit is a flattened, oval, woody pod that dehisces at the both ends. Bark is smoke-grey and smooth.
Habit : Tree
Native : India
Comments : A sacred tree; seeds used in extraction of oil. Common along water courses, gaining popularity as a source of biofuel from the seed kernel.
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Distribution Locality : Bagalkot, Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chamrajnagar, Chikamagalur, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Yadgir
Floras referred : Saldanha, 1984; Gowda, 2004 - Sringeri; Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Bangalore; Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Coorg; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara