• Family : HERNANDIACEAEA
  (Helicopter Tree Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : ZAITUN FAMILY (जैतून फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : HERNANDIACEAE
• Synonym(s) : Gyrocarpus asiaticus Willd.; Gyrocarpus jacquinii Roxb.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Gyrocarpus americanus Jacq.
• Common name : Helicopter Tree, Catamaran Wood Tree
• Vernacular name : Zaitun (Hindi); Kaadu Bende (Kannada); Vellaithanukku, Kosuthamugu, Kaathaadimaram (Tamil); Tunuku, Kummara poliki, Poliki (Telugu); Pitela, Sutorono (Oria); Thanukku (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Common in dry deciduous forests in rocky areas and on plains to 500m.
• Flower, Fruit : October-April
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, East Godavari district, West Godavari district, Krishna district, Prakasam district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Kadapa district, Anantapur district, Chittoor district
  • Telangana : Mehboobnagar district, Khammam district, Nalgonda district
  • Kerala : Palakkad district, Idukki district
  • Odisha : Mayurbhanj district, Ganjam district, Puri district
  • Tamil Nadu : Alagar Hills (Madurai district), Kolli Hills (Namakkal district), Shevaroy Hills, Kalrayan Hills, Bodamalai Hills (Salem district), Pachamalai Hills (Tiruchirapalli district), Chitteri Hills, Yelagiri Hills (Vellore district), Sirumalai Hills (Dindigul district), Piranmalai Hills (Sivaganga district), Theerthamalai Hills, Dharmapuri Hills (Dharmapuri district), Gingee Hill (Villipuram district), Javadu Hills (Tiruvannamalai district)
• Native : Pantropical
• World Distribution : Pantropical
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Sudhakar Reddy, C et al., 2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). 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=Gyrocarpus americanus. Downloaded on 3 June 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)