• Family : FLACOURTIACEAE
  (Flacourtia Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : CHILLA FAMILY (चिल्ला फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System IV) : Salicaceae
• Basionym : Gmelina indica Burm.f.
• Synonym(s) : Gmelina javanica Christm.; Flacourtia afra Pic.Serm.; Flacourtia balansae Gagnep.; Flacourtia elliptica (Tul.) Warb.; Flacourtia frondosa Clos; Flacourtia gambecola Clos; Flacourtia heterophylla Turcz.; Flacourtia hilsenbergii C.Presl; Flacourtia hirtiuscula Oliv.; Flacourtia indica var. innocua (Haines) H.O.Saxena & Brahmam; Flacourtia kirkiana H.M.Gardner; Flacourtia lenis Craib; Flacourtia lucida Salisb.; Flacourtia obcordata Roxb.; Flacourtia parvifolia Merr.; Flacourtia perrottetiana Clos; Flacourtia ramontchi var. renvoizei Fosberg; Flacourtia rotundifolia Clos; Flacourtia rotundifolia Roxb.; Flacourtia sapida Roxb.; Flacourtia sepiaria Roxb.; Flacourtia sepiaria var. innocua Haines; Flacourtia thorelii Gagnep.; Myroxylon dicline Blanco; Stigmarota africana Lour.; Stigmarota edulis Blanco; Xylosma elliptica Tul.; Verlangia indica Neck. ex Raf.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Flacourtia indica (Burm. f.) Merr.
• Common name : Governer's Plum, Madagascar Plum, Batoko palm
• Vernacular name :
  • Katahi, Bilangoa, Kanjubainch (Hindi)
  • Mulluthare, Miradi (Kannada)
  • Kodikkarai, Katukalai, Sottaikalai, Kodumundi (Tamil)
  • Kanregu, Putikatada, Kuragayi (Telugu)
  • Baincho, Sanobainchi, Kontadhwara, Mamuri, Balibaincho, Kontaikuli (Oria)
  • Aghori, Vikankata, Kanchu, Bilangra (Sanskrit)
  • Girgot, Kakai, Anthrun, Bhenkal, Panavla, Galgughar (Marathi)
  • Aghori, Cherumullikkachedi, Karkkadappazham, Karimulli, Kattukara, Oushadakkara, Ramontchi, Mullikkachedi, Vayankkaitha (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Found on the Ridges as well as on the arid, hilly tracts
• Comments / notes : Common in wet deciduous forests between 500-1000m. Fruit is used in the treatment of jaundice and enlarged spleen, also a table fruit. Bark is astringent and diuretic.
• Key identification features : Densely foliaceous, evergreen, stiff, sout shrub to small tree, with arching branches. New shoots with elongate thorns and coppery foliage. Fruit persistent, red when ripe
• Flower, Fruit : September-August
• Collector(s) Name : D.H.Nicolson, Cecil J. Saldanha, T.P.Ramamoorthy
• Collection Date : 07/05/1970
• Collection Nos : HFP 31
• Collection Locality : Stream between Devalkere and Devrunde, Hassan district
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, S.P.S. Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Visakhapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mahbubnagar district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district, Kolar district, Chamarajanagara district, Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : All disricts of Maharashtra
  • Odisha : All district of Odisha
  • Tamil Nadu : All districts of Tamil Nadu
  • Madhya Pradesh : Hoshangabad district
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • Himachal Pradesh : Lahaul and Spiti district, Solan district, Shimla district
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
  • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
  • Assam : Assam
  • Nagaland : Nagaland
  • Delhi : Delhi
  • Haryana : Gurugram (Gurgaon) district
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Punjab : Punjab
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
  • Lakshadweep : Lakshadweep
• Native : Aldabra, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Provinces, China, Comoros, Congo, Ethiopia, Hainan, India, Jawa, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Northern Provinces, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Paleotropics
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature :
  • Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1
  • J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1
  • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
  • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
  • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
  • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
  • Franklin Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy, 2013. Flora of Sri Venkateswara National Park, Andhra Pradesh, BSI
  • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
  • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
  • N.P. Singh, P. Lakshminarasimhan, S. Karthikeyan & P. V. Prasanna (2001). Flora of Maharashtra state, Dicotyledones. Vol. 2. Botanical survey of India, Govt. India.
  • Maheshwari K.J (1963). Flora of Delhi: 67
  • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Flora of Bangalore district, Karnataka state
  • P. S. N. Rao, P. M. Padhey, B. K. Sinha, H. S. Debnath, P. Lakshminarasimhan, & L. N. Ray. (1999). Flora of Andaman-Nicobar Islands (Vol. 1). Director, Botanical Survey of India.
• Read more :
  • GBIF Data Online (Access to herbarium specimens)
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Flacourtia indica
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Flacourtia indica. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution