Herbarium JCB

Limonia acidissima L.

Family : RUTACEAE
(Rue Or Citrus Family)
Family (Hindi name) : NIMBU FAMILY (नींबू फैमिली)
Family (as per The APG System III) : RUTACEAE
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Limonia acidissima Groff
Common name : Wood Apple, Elephant Apple, Curd fruit, Monkey fruit
Vernacular name : Kaith, Kaatbelh (Hindi); Belada mara, Belavala mara (Kannada); Velamaram (Tamil); Velaga, Tor-elaga (Telugu); Kaitho, Behenta, BHenda, Koito, Koeta (Oria); Kapitthah (Sanskrit); Kavath (Marathi); Vilankai, Vilarmaram, Vilavu (Malayalam)
Habit : Tree
Habitat : Dry deciduous forests, also grown in homesteads
Comments / notes : On foothills of scrub jungles and hills up to 1000m. Occasionally cultivated for its fruits.
Key identification features : Bark thin, greenish-grey, smooth
Flower, Fruit : January-May
Distribution :
- Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district, Kurnool district, Kadapa district, Prakasam district, Vishakapatnam district
- Karnataka : Kolar district
- Kerala : Wayanad district, Thrissur district, Ernakulam district, Kottayam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
- Maharashtra : All districts of Maharashtra
- Odisha : Angul district, Cuttack district, Puri district, Nayagarh district
- Tamil Nadu : Dharmapuri district, Namakkal district
World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Java, Indo-China, Malesia
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Sudhakar Reddy, C et al., 2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.; M.R. Almeida (1998). Flora of Maharashtra vol.2.
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=Limonia acidissima. Downloaded on 5 April 2025.