Herbarium JCB

Garcinia morella (Gaertn.) Desr.

Family : CLUSIACEAE
(Garcinia Or Kokam Family)
Family (Hindi name) : KOKAM FAMILY (कोकम फैमिली)
Family (as per The APG System III) : CLUSIACEAE
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Garcinia morella (Gaertn.) Desr.
Common name : Ceylon Gamboge, Indian Gamboge tree
Vernacular name : Hiravi, Kalaskandhah, Kankustha (Sanskrit); Tamal (Hindi); Ardaala, Murinahuli, Jirigehuli, Devanahuli (Kannada); Chigiri, Daramba, Iravi (Malayalam)
Habit : Tree
Habitat : Evergreen and semi-Evergreen forests
Key identification features : A small tree with yellow latex. Flowers are yellowish white, tetramerous; Stamens many, anthers are peltate showing circumscissile dehiscence. Fruit is a berry.
Flower, Fruit : October-August
Collection Nos : KFP 956, KFP 7081
Distribution :
- Karnataka : Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
- Kerala : Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
- Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, The Nilgiri district, Tirunelveli district
Native : India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore.
World Distribution : Indo-Malesia
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Literature : Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Flora of Hassan district, Karnataka; Balakrishna Gowda & A.N. Sringesh 2004 – Flora of Sringeri (checklist unpublished); Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 – Flora of Udupi District; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1; 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=Garcinia morella. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.