Calotropis procera W.T.Aiton

 
  • Family : ASCLEPIADACEAE
    (Milkweed Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : AAK FAMILY (आक फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Apocynaceae
  • Basionym : Asclepias procera Aiton
  • Synonym(s) : Calotropis gigantea var. procera (Aiton) P.T.Li; Madorius procerus (Aiton) Kuntze; Apocynum syriacum Garsault; Apocynum syriacum S.G.Gmel.; Asclepias gigantea Willd.; Asclepias patula Decne.; Calotropis hamiltonii Wight; Calotropis heterophylla Wall. ex Wight; Calotropis inflexa Chiov.; Calotropis persica Gand.; Calotropis procera subsp. hamiltonii (Wight) Ali; Calotropis syriaca (S.G.Gmel.) Woodson
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Calotropis procera (Aiton) Dryand.
  • Vernacular name :
    • Safed-ak, Akada, Madar, Ak (Hindi)
    • Bili ekkada gida (Kannada)
    • Vellarukku (Tamil)
    • Jilledu, Erra jilledu (Telugu)
    • Uruko, Arka, Arakh (Oria)
    • Rui (Marathi)
  • Habit : Shrub
  • Habitat : Open, watse, sandy and dry places
  • Comments / notes : The Coal from the roots is used in crackers. Common in waste lands
  • Key identification features : Erect shrubs, 1.5-4 .5 m high; Leaves sessile, opposite, cuneate-obovate, base cordate, smooth above; Flowers purple in long peduncled, cottony umbels; Follicles recurved. Seeds ovoid.
  • Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
  • Distribution :
    • Maharashtra : Akola district
    • Tamil Nadu : Sirumalai Hills (Dindigul district), Theni district
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
    • Haryana : Gurgaon district
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Punjab : Punjab
    • Rajasthan : Jaisalmer district, Barmer district, Bikaner district, Jodhpur district
  • Native : Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Central African Repu, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Bhutan, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Gulf States, Ind
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : India, Afghanistan, Arabian peninsula to Tropical Africa
  • 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
    • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
    • Maheshwari K.J (1963). Flora of Delhi: 218
    • G.S Giri., A.Pramanik., H.J. Chowdhery., G.D Pal and S.K. Das (2008). Materials for Arunachal Pradesh, Vol (2), Pg: 164
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Calotropis procera. Downloaded on 8 December 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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