- Family : ASCLEPIADACEAE
(Milkweed Family)
- Family (Hindi name) : AAK FAMILY (आक फैमिली)
- Family (as per The APG System III) : Apocynaceae
- Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Calotropis gigantea (L.) W.T.Aiton
- Common name : Giant Milk-Weed, Giant Swallow wort Madar Plant, Bowstring hemp, Crown Flower, Giant Calotrope
- Vernacular name :
- Madar, Akoa, Akond, Akona (Hindi)
- Ekkada gida (Kannada)
- Erukku, Arkkam, Yerikan, Yerukku (Tamil)
- Tella jilledu, Racha jilledu, Jilledu (Telugu)
- Arko, Urak, Akand (Oria)
- Arka (Sanskrit)
- Dinesam, Erikku, Erikkalachedi, Vella-erikku, Yerikku (Malayalam)
- Habit : Shrub
- Comments / notes : Occasional on plains to 1000m,by wayside, in wasteland. A ready colonizer by roads.
- Key identification features : Large shrub; milky stem; Leaves oval, light green; Flower white or lavender; Fruit follicle.
- Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
- Collector(s) Name : Borivali National Park, Maharashtra
- Collection Date : NI 14
- Collection Nos : N.A.Irani
- Distribution :
- Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, S.P.S. Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Visakhapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
- Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mahbubnagar district
- Karnataka : Hassan district, Ballari district, Kolar district, Chamarajanagara district
- Kerala : All districts of Kerala
- Maharashtra : Thane district
- Odisha : Angul district, Balasore district, Bargarh district, Balangir district, Boudh district, Cuttack district, Deogarh district, Dhenkanal district, Gajapati district, Ganjam district, Kalahandi district, Kandhamal district, Kendrapara district, Kendujhar district, Khordha district, Koraput district, Malkangiri district, Mayurbhanj district, Puri district, Rayagada district, Sambalpur district, Sundargarh district, PLN
- Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Dindigul district, Dharmapuri district, Kancheepuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Karur district, Krishnagiri district, Madurai district, Namakkal district, Pudukkottai district, Sivaganga district, Salem district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tiruvannamalai district, Villipuram district, Vellore district
- Jharkhand :
- Madhya Pradesh : Hoshangabad district
- Sikkim : Sikkim
- Arunachal Pradesh : Kameng
- Meghalaya : Meghalaya
- Assam : Assam
- Nagaland : Nagaland
- Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
- Punjab : Punjab
- Mizoram : Mizoram
- Manipur : Manipur
- Tripura : Tripura
- Lakshadweep : Lakshadweep
- Native : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hainan, India, Jawa, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Malaya, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam
- Exotic/Native : Native
- World Distribution : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hainan, India, Jawa, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Malaya, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam
- Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
- Literature :
- Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4
- J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2
- H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2
- R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
- R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
- H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
- N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
- 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: 163
- Indigenous Plants at Biodiversity Park, Ranchi - Ranchi Afforestation Division, Forest and Environmental Department, Jharkhand
- Read more :
- Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Calotropis gigantea
- Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Calotropis gigantea. Downloaded on 27 January 2026.
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