Callicarpa tomentosa (L.) Murray

 
  • Family : VERBENACEAE
    (Verbena Or Vervain Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : SAGVAN FAMILY (सागवान फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Lamiaceae
  • Basionym : Tomex tomentosa L.
  • Synonym(s) : Callicarpa lanata L.; Callicarpa arborea Miq. ex Clarke
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Callicarpa tomentosa (L.) L.
  • Common name : Velvet Beauty Berry, Great woolly malayan lilac
  • Vernacular name :
    • Aarati gida, Dodda nathada gida, Ibanne gida, Pandavara batthi, Rishipathri, Ardri, Ruchikatri (Kannada)
    • Seembakkuthu (Tamil)
    • Priyangu (Sanskrit)
    • Sankagochi, Bodiga chettu (Telugu)
    • Bodopatri, Seembakkuthu, Pandakaiya maram (Oria)
    • Cheruthekku, Kattuthekku, Naikumbil, Nallapompil, Pichenkala, Puliyanthekku, Thiriperivelam, Themperuvallam (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Shrub or Tree
  • Habitat : Tropical semi-evergreen forests, Tropical moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
  • Comments / notes : On hills above 1000m in slopes.
  • Key identification features : Large shrub or small tree; Leaves simple, opposite, elliptic to broadly elliptic or ovate; Inflorescence branched cymes; Flowers purple, stalkless; Fruit round drupe, black, shining.
  • Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : Visakhapatnam district, East Godavari district, Srikakulam district
    • Karnataka : Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district
    • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
    • Maharashtra : Thane district
    • Odisha : Kalahandi district, Kendujhar district, Puri district, Mayurbhanj district, Ganjam district, Balangir district
    • Tamil Nadu : Kolli Hills (Namakkal district), Srikakulam district (SKLM), Visakhapatnam district (VSKP)
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Tirap
  • Native : India, Sri Lanka
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3
    • Sudhakar Reddy, C et al., 2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India
    • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • G.S Giri., A.Pramanik., H.J. Chowdhery., G.D Pal and S.K. Das (2008). Materials for Arunachal Pradesh, Vol (2), Pg: 260
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Callicarpa tomentosa
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Callicarpa tomentosa. Downloaded on 20 January 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

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