• Family : ASCLEPIADACEAE
  (Milkweed Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : AAK FAMILY (आक फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : APOCYNACEAE
• Basionym : Periploca esculenta L. f.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Not found in The Plant List
• Vernacular name : Dudhialata, Kirni (Hindi); Kulappaalai (Tamil); Dudhi pala (Telugu); Dudhialata (Oria); Kulappala (Malayalam)
• Habit : Climber
• Habitat : Scrub jungles and near water courses
• Comments / notes : Occasional on plains by stream banks, canals and tanks. According to IPNI the name O. esculentum R.Br. is invalid
• Flower, Fruit : August-April
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K.Swamy
• Collection Date : 19/10/2010
• Collection Nos : FAP 40494
• Collection Locality : Naganupula, Anantapur district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Guntur district, West Godavari district, Kurnool district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district
  • Kerala : Palakkad district, Thrissur district
  • Odisha : Kalhandi district
• World Distribution : Tropical Himalayas, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
• Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4; 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; IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. ; 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.
• 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=Oxystelma esculentum. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)