Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre

 
  • Family : FABACEAE
    (Pea Or Bean Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Leguminosae
  • Subfamily : Faboideae
  • Basionym : Cytisus pinnatus L.
  • Synonym(s) : Cajum pinnatum (L.) Kuntze; Galedupa pinnata (L.) Taub.; Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi; Pongamia glabra Vent.; Pongamia pinnata var. typica Domin
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre
  • Common name : Indian Elm, Pongam oil tree, Indian beech wood tree
  • Vernacular name :
    • Karanj (Hindi)
    • Hongemara (Kannada)
    • Pungam, Ponga (Tamil)
    • Gaanuga, Kanuga, Pungu (Telugu)
    • Karanjo (Oria)
    • Karanja (Sanskrit)
    • Minnari, Ungu, Ponnam, Pungu, Punnu, Pongam (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Deciduous forests, also planted as avenue tree
  • Comments / notes : A sacred tree; gaining popularity as a source of biofuel from the seed kernel; common along water courses to 1000m.
  • Key identification features : A medium-sized decidious tree. Leaves are imparipinnate with 2-3 pairs of broad leaflets, often seen with Galls. Flowers are in short clusters, pea-like and whitish-pink. Fruit is a flattened, oval, woody pod that dehisces at both ends. Bark smoke-grey and smooth.
  • Flower, Fruit : April-December
  • Collector(s) Name : S.R.Ramesh
  • Collection Date : 26/06/1980
  • Collection Nos : KFP 11618
  • Collection Locality : Huliurdurga, Tumkuru district
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : Andhra Pradesh
    • Karnataka : Chikkamagaluru district, Bengaluru district, Mysuru district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Udupi district, Davanagare district, Dakshina Kannada district
    • Kerala : Kerala
    • Odisha : Odisha
    • Tamil Nadu : Tamil Nadu
    • Jharkhand :
    • Madhya Pradesh : Hoshangabad district
    • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
    • Sikkim : Sikkim
    • West Bengal : West Bengal
    • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Delhi : Delhi
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Punjab : Punjab
    • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Bhutan, Borneo, Caroline Islands, China, Christmas Island, Fiji, Hainan, India, Japan, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Marianas, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Caledonia, New Guinea
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Bhutan, Borneo, Caroline Islands, China, Christmas Island, Fiji, Hainan, India, Japan, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Malaya, Marianas, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis-Futuna Islands
  • Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
  • Literature :
    • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
    • J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
    • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
    • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
    • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
    • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Flora of Karnataka, Saldanha, 1984
    • Balakrishna Gowda & A.N. Sringesh 2004 – Sringeri (checklist unpublished)
    • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Flora of Bangalore district, Karnataka state
    • Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore
    • Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Flora of Coorg district, Karnataka state
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi
    • Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
    • Parkinson, C.E. 1923. A Forest Flora of the Andaman Islands, Govt. of India, Shimla: 152
    • Indigenous Plants at Biodiversity Park, Ranchi - Ranchi Afforestation Division, Forest and Environmental Department, Jharkhand
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Pongamia pinnata. Downloaded on 8 February 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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