• Family : SAPOTACEAE
  (Sapodilla Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : CHIKOO FAMILY (चीकू फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : SAPOTACEAE
• Basionym : Bassia bourdillonii Gamble
• Synonym(s) : Bassia fulva Bourd.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Madhuca bourdillonii (Gamble) H.J.Lam
• Vernacular name : Thandidiyan, Ponavu (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Semi-Evergreen forests
• Comments / notes : Though described as an evergreen, it has a brief period of leaf-fall, which is not strictly season bound. Flowering is simultaneous with leaf-fall and new flush that follows is mingled with late blooming flowers and early fruits. (Ramachandra et al, 2008)
• Key identification features : Large tree exceeding 30m height at maturity. Bark grayish-brown, longitudinally fissured and flaky bark with a pinkish interior. The plant parts have milky latex like other species of Madhuca. Young shoots, including young leaves, are densely covered with brownish-orange, wooly hairs. In the mature leaves the undersurface of veins retains the hairs unlike other related species. Flowers appear in dense clusters from the axils of fallen leaves or of older leaves that are about to fall. The stalks of flowers, 1.5-2 cm long, are also covered with dense hairs. Sepals-4, ovate and hairy outside. Petals-12. Stamens are often twice the number of petals, in two whorls. The anther is tipped with a narrow outgrowth. Fruit globose is a key distinguishing character of M. bourdillonii. Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia has globose fruit, with oblique apex and M. longifolia var. longifolia has an ovoid fruit.
• Flower, Fruit : November-July
• Distribution :
  • Karnataka : Mysuru district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : Thrissur district, Kollam district
• Native : India
• Endemism : Southern Western Ghats
• World Distribution : India
• Conservation Status : Endangered (EN)
• Literature : Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Ramachandra T.V, et al- Discovery of Two Critically Endangered Tree Species and Issues Related to Relic Forests of the Western Ghats, The Open Conservation Biology Journal, 2008, 2, 1-8.; 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=Madhuca bourdillonii. Downloaded on 21 November 2024.

Botanical Description

Field Image(s)