Michelia nilagirica Zenker

 
  • Family : MAGNOLIACEAE
    (Magnolia Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : SON CHAMPA FAMILY (सोन चम्पा फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Magnoliaceae
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Magnolia nilagirica (Zenker) Figlar
  • Common name : White Champak, Neilgiri Champak
  • Vernacular name :
    • Peela Champa (Kannada)
    • Kattuchempakam, Vellachempakam (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Shola
  • Comments / notes : On moist deciduous hill to evergreen montane forests above 1250m. Extensive timber logging and its restricted distribution has made this species threatened
  • Key identification features : Bark brown, cracked, blaze grey. Follicles yellow-warty. Seeds 1-2 scarlet.
  • Flower, Fruit : March-August
  • Collection Nos : CS & HSS 60
  • Distribution :
    • Karnataka : BR Hills (Chamarajanagara district), Chikkamagaluru district, Mysuru district
    • Kerala : Wayanad district, Palakkad district, Idukki district, Thiruvananthapuram district
    • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Madurai district, The Nilgiri district, Tirunelveli district, Theni district, Dindigul district
  • Native : India, Sri Lanka
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka
  • Conservation Status : Vulnerable (VU)
  • Literature :
    • Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnatka State vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Michelia nilagirica
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Michelia nilagirica. Downloaded on 13 February 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

Creative Commons License
India Flora Online by Herbarium JCB is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.