• Family : APOCYNACEAE
  (Dogbane Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : KARONDA FAMILY (करौंदा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : APOCYNACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Carissa carandas L.
• Common name : Christ's Thorn, Bengal Currants, Jasmine flowered Carissa
• Vernacular name : Karando, Karaunda (Hindi); Karande gida (Kannada); Kilaakkaai, Kalakkay (Tamil); Pedda kalivi, Peddavaka kaya, Kali-kai, Vaaka, Kalivi, Vaka (Telugu): Kerenda Koli, Anku Koli (Oria); Karamardaka, Krishna phala (Sanskrit); Karakka, Karanda, Kalachedi, Klavu (Malayalam)
• Habit : Shrub
• Habitat : Dry forests
• Comments / notes : Occasional. On plains in scrub jungles to 900m, on river banks etc.
• Flower, Fruit : March-October
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Kadapa district, West Godavari district, East Godavari district, Chittoor district
  • Karnataka : Kolar district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Odisha : Kalhandi district, Ganjam district
  • Tamil Nadu : Tiruvannamalai district, Villipuram district, Dharmapuri district, Vellore district, Cuddalore district
• World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and widespread by cultivation
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• 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; 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; 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.
• 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=Carissa carandas. Downloaded on 2 April 2025.

Botanical Description

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