• Family : EUPHORBIACEAE
  (Spurge Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : AMLA FAMILY (आँवला फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : EUPHORBIACEAE
• Basionym : Jatropha moluccana L.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Aleurites moluccanus (L.) Willd.
• Common name : Candle-nut Tree, Belgaum walnut, Candlenut tree, Candlenut oil tree, Candleberry, Indian walnut, Varnish tree
• Vernacular name : Katakorote (Tamil); Akkrottu, Akshotam, Karankolam, Okamaram, Ukamaram (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Grown in the High ranges
• Key identification features : Yeilds a watery latex, sometimes milky. Flowers are borne on a dense rusty inflorescence.
• Flower, Fruit : December-May
• Distribution :
  • Karnataka : Bengaluru district
  • Kerala : Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Tamil Nadu : Planted in hills
• Native : Hawaii
• World Distribution : India, China to Polynesia, New Zealand and introduced from Malesia
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). 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=Aleurites moluccanus. Downloaded on 20 May 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)