• Family : STERCULIACEAE
  (Sterculia Or Cocoa Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : COCOA FAMILY
• Family (as per The APG System III) : Malvaceae
• Basionym : Sterculia colorata Roxb.
• Synonym(s) : Clompanus colorata (Roxb.) Kuntze; Erythropsis colorata (Roxb.) Burkill; Erythropsis roxburghiana Schott & Endl.; Firmiana rubriflora Kosterm.; Karaka colorata (Roxb.) Raf.; Sterculia rubicunda Wall.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Firmiana colorata (Roxb.) R.Br.
• Common name : Scarlet Sterculia, Colored Sterculia, Hill Gossypium
• Vernacular name :
  • Bodula, Samarri (Hindi)
  • Bilisulige (Kannada)
  • Malamparuthi (Tamil)
  • Korata, Maraka, Kharaka, Karubopajja (Telugu)
  • Kodalo, Pani kodal (Oria)
  • Bhaikoi, Bharkoi, Kaushil, Khowsey, Supli (Marathi)
  • Malamparathi, Kleeni, Kiliyani (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Tropical dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Occasional on the slopes of deciduous forests at 1000m. Flowers are bright, showy and can be recognised from far off distance
• Flower, Fruit : March-June
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K.Swamy
• Collection Date : 26/06/2010
• Collection Nos : FAP 39592
• Collection Locality : Batrepalli, Anantapur district
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mehboobnagar district
  • Karnataka : Bengaluru district, Belagavi district, Chitradurga district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Tumakuru district
  • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Wayanad district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Maharashtra : Ratnagiri district, Thane district
  • Odisha : Angul district, Mayurbhanj district, Sundergarh district, Kalhandi district
  • Tamil Nadu : Namakkal district, Salem district, Vellore district, Dharmapuri district, Tiruvannamalai district, The Nilgiri district, Coimbatore district
  • Madhya Pradesh : Hoshangabad district
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
  • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
  • Assam : Assam
  • Nagaland : Nagaland
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : North and Middle Andaman,South Andaman, Long & Baratang Islands
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
• Native : Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Bhutan, India, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Bhutan, India, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature :
  • Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1
  • J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1
  • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
  • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
  • Sudhakar Reddy, C et al., 2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Franklin Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy, 2013. Flora of Sri Venkateswara National Park, Andhra Pradesh, BSI.
  • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
  • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 – Flora of Hassan District
  • Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi
  • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 – Flora of Bangalore District
  • Rao & Razi, 1981 – A Synoptic Flora of Mysore District
  • N.P.Singh, 1988- Flora of Eastern Karnataka
  • Parkinson, C.E. 1923. A Forest Flora of the Andaman Islands, Govt. of India, Shimla: 101
• Read more :
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Firmiana colorata
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2025). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Firmiana colorata. Downloaded on 4 November 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

India Distribution

World Distribution