• Family : ASCLEPIADACEAE
  (Milkweed Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : AAK FAMILY (आक फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : APOCYNACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Gymnema alterniflorum (Lour.) Merr.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R.Br. ex Sm.
• Common name : Periploca of the woods, Sugar killer vine, Small Indian Ipecac, Gymnema
• Vernacular name : Gudmar, Merashingi (Hindi); Madhu nashini, Kodapatre, Kadasige (Kannada); Sirukurinja, Sarkarikolli, Adigam, Cherukurinja, Kannuminnayam kodi, Pasaani (Tamil); Poda patri, Chinna paalateega, Putta podara, Putta bhadra (Telugu); Mera-singi (Oria); Chakkarakolli, Madhunaasini, Sarkarakolli (Malayalam)
• Habit : Liana
• Habitat : Scrub jungles and hill slopes to 800m on thickets, by shola borders
• Comments / notes : Occasional; the leaves, if chewed, temporarily destroy the sense of sweet taste.
• Flower, Fruit : August-March
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy
• Collection Date : 09/07/2009
• Collection Nos : FAP 37660
• Collection Locality : K.K. Kottala, Kadapa district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Guntur district, Kurnool district, Prakasam district, Kadapa district,
  • Karnataka : All districts of Karnataka
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Odisha : Puri district, Cuttack district, Ganjam district, Bargarh district
  • Tamil Nadu : Throughout Tamil Nadu
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, tropical Africa
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; 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; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Flora of Hassan District; Gowda, 2004 – Flora of Sringeri; Seetharam et al., 2000 – Flora of Gulbarga District; Rao & Razi, 1981 – A Synoptic Flora of Mysore District; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 – Flora of Coorg District; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Flora of Udupi District; Manjunath et al., 2003 – Flora of Davanagere District; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
• 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=Gymnema sylvestre. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)