Scolopia crenata (Wight & Arn.) Clos

 
  • Family : FLACOURTIACEAE
    (Flacourtia Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : CHILLA FAMILY (चिल्ला फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Salicaceae
  • Basionym : Phoberos crenatus Wight & Arn.
  • Synonym(s) : Phoberos acuminatus Gardner ex Thwaites; Phoberos lanceolatus Wight & Arn.; Phoberos saevus Hance; Phoberos wightianus Wight & Arn.; Scolopia crenata var. brevifolia N.Mukh.; Scolopia pseudocrenata Clos; Scolopia wightiana Clos
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Unresolved name
  • Common name : The 'Potato' Plum of Mysore
  • Vernacular name :
    • Kodali mara, Malekakkade (Kannada)
    • Sekkada, Purushakesari (Tamil)
    • Putta pondru (Telugu)
    • Charalu, Cherakanji, Kakkamaram, Mullukara, Saralamaram (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Tropical evergreen forests, Tropical semi-evergreen forests, also at the border of sholas
  • Comments / notes : Rare in evergreen forests of Eastern Ghats above 900m. Bark is diuretic, locals use the young fruit to treat night blindness and flowers are used in treatment of eye diseases (Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy).
  • Key identification features : A moderate-sized tree, sometimes attaining a height of 70 feet and a girth of 5 feet, thorny while young; bark grey, cut dark red. Leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, acute, rounded at the base, glands at the insertion of the petiole, glabrous, glandular-crenate to almost entire. Flowers white, in axillary or terminal racemes, stamens numerous, with yellow glands outside them. Fruit globose
  • Flower, Fruit : April-December
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : Kadapa district, Chittoor district
    • Karnataka : Shivamogga district
    • Kerala : Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
    • Maharashtra : Konkan, Ghats
    • Tamil Nadu : Kolli Hills (Namakkal district), Sirumalai Hills (Dindigul district)
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : North and Middle Andaman,South Andaman
  • World Distribution : Indo-Malesia
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1
    • Sankar,R.V., R. Kottaimuthu & K. Ravikumar (2009). Additions to the flora of Sirumalai Hills, Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(7): 379-381
    • 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
    • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • Parkinson, C.E. 1923. A Forest Flora of the Andaman Islands, Govt. of India, Shimla: 84
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Scolopia crenata. Downloaded on 16 October 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

India Distribution

World Distribution

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