Herbarium JCB

Balanites roxburghii Planchon

Family : SIMAROUBACEAE
(Quassia Family)
Family (Hindi name) : HINGOT FAMILY (हिंगोट फैमिली)
Family (as per The APG System III) : ZYGOPHYLLACEAE
Synonym(s) : Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile sensu Indian floras
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Balanites roxburghii Planch.
Common name : Desert Date
Vernacular name : Hingan, Hingu (Hindi); Ingula, Ingalukke (Kannada); Koolathi, Nanjundan, Thoruvattu (Tamil); Gouritvae (Sanskrit); Hinganbet (Marathi); Gara, Gari (Telugu)
Habit : Tree
Habitat : Scrub and Dry deciduous forests
Comments / notes : On foothills of scrub jungles and in deciduous forests. Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Del from India is missapplied for B. roxburghii Planch. (Raja K. Swamy 2016)
Key identification features : Leaves ashy grey. Bark yellowish-grey. Fruit pulp with offensive smell
Flower, Fruit : January-August
Distribution :
- Andhra Pradesh : Prakasam district, Kurnool district, Guntur district, Vishakapatnam district, East Godavari district, Srikakulam district
- Karnataka : Sandur Hills-Ballari district
- Maharashtra : All districts of Maharashtra
- Tamil Nadu : Tiruchirapalli district, Coimbatore district, Ramanathapuram district, Salem district
Native : India
World Distribution : India, Myanmar
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam Distric; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
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=Balanites roxburghii. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.