Hydnocarpus pentandrus (Buch.-Ham.) Oken

 
  • Family : FLACOURTIACEAE
    (Flacourtia Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : CHILLA FAMILY (चिल्ला फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Achariaceae
  • Basionym : Chilmoria pentandra Buch.-Ham.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Hydnocarpus pentandrus (Buch.-Ham.) Oken
  • Common name : Chaulmugra
  • Vernacular name :
    • Turavaka (Sanskrit)
    • Toratti, Chalmogra yenne mara, Mirolhakai (Kannada)
    • Kadukavath, Kantel, Kastel, Kowti, Keti (Marathi)
    • Kotti, Maravetti, Marotti, Neeratti, Niralam, Thamana (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Tropical semi-evergreen forests, Tropical dry deciduous forests, Tropical moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
  • Comments / notes : occurs in Western Ghats, from Goa to Kanyakumari. Elevation 40- 900m. EOO/AOO- 41286/15859 sq km.
  • Key identification features : Trees, up to 26m tall, girth up to 3m. Leaves simple, alternate, serrate, elliptic-oblong, 8-20 x 4-8 cm, apex acuminate, base slightly oblique, petiole 0.7- 2.2 cm, swollen at both ends, secondary nerves 5-7 pairs. Flowers unisexual, monoecius, male in axillary cymes, female solitary. Fruit woody, spherical, up to 8 cm across, brown powdery tomentose. Can be distinguished by its slightly oblique base and petiole which is swollen at both ends.
  • Flower, Fruit : March-August
  • Distribution :
    • Goa : South Goa district
    • Karnataka : Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Davanagere district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district, Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district (FRLHT Campus)
    • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
    • Maharashtra : Mumbai Suburban district, Kolhapur district, Ratnagiri district, Sindhudurg district
    • Tamil Nadu : Tamil Nadu
  • Native : India
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • Endemism : Western Ghats
  • World Distribution : India
  • Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
  • Literature :
    • Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 – Flora of Coorg district
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 – Flora of Udupi district
    • Manjunath et al., 2003 – Flora of Davanagere district
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Navendu Page (2017). Endemic woody plants of the Western Ghats.
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Hydnocarpus pentandrus
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Hydnocarpus pentandrus. Downloaded on 30 January 2026.

Botanical Description

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

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