• Family : SAPOTACEAE
  (Sapodilla Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : CHIKOO FAMILY (चीकू फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : SAPOTACEAE
• Basionym : Bassia elliptica Dalzell
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Palaquium ellipticum (Dalzell) Baill.
• Common name : Indian Gutta Percha
• Vernacular name : Panchoti mara, Natigattapercha (Kannada); Choppala, Iluppakkai, Pachendi, Pali (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Evergreen forests
• Comments / notes : Occasional in evergreen forests of Western Ghats at elevations 490-1330 m. Timber is used for building purposes
• Key identification features : A large tree, with a straight cylincrical trunk and milky latex. Leaves coriaceous, elliptic or elliptic-obovate, abruptly acuminate at apex. Flowers axillary; calyx-lobes 6 in 2 series, outer 3 valvate, inner 3 imbricate, broadly ovate. Stamens 12-18; filaments very short. Ovary villous, 6-celled; style subulate. Berry c.2.5 cm long, ellipsoid, 1-seeded.
• Flower, Fruit : January-July
• Collection Nos : Raghavan 97267, Raghavan 74224
• Distribution :
  • Karnataka : Dakshina Kannada district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Shivamogga district, Uttara Kannada district, Udupi district
  • Kerala : Kannur district, Wayanad district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
• Native : India
• Endemism : Western Ghats
• World Distribution : India
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Flora of Karnataka, Saldanha, 1984; Balakrishna Gowda & A.N. Sringesh 2004 – Sringeri (checklist unpublished); Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Navendu Page (2017). Endemic woody plants of the Western Ghats.
• 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=Palaquium ellipticum. Downloaded on 21 November 2024.

Botanical Description

Field Image(s)