Heritiera littoralis Aiton

 
  • Family : STERCULIACEAE
    (Sterculia Or Cocoa Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : COCOA FAMILY
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Malvaceae
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Heritiera littoralis Aiton
  • Common name : Looking-glass Tree
  • Vernacular name :
    • Kannadi yele mara (Kannada)
    • Chomuntri, Kannadi-yilai (Tamil)
    • Latha sundari, Bara sundari (Oria)
    • Koland, Sundri, Sundrichand (Marathi)
    • Mukuram, Nakam (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Tropical evergreen forests
  • Comments / notes : Fruits have a prominent ridge or keel on one side. When the seed is floating, this keel acts as a sail, probably aiding dispersal.
  • Key identification features : Moderate-sized of irregular growth, with thin, often curving, buttressed, bark grey or discoloured, cracked lengthwise. Leaves broad, elliptic or oblong, acute or more or less rounded at the base, dark green above, silvery-white beneath, lateral nerve 7-9 pairs. Flowers small, creamy-pink. Fruit 1-3 in. long, woody, compressed, ovoid and boldly keeled.
  • Flower, Fruit : July-January
  • Distribution :
    • Karnataka : Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district, Uttara Kannada district
    • Kerala : Kollam district
    • Maharashtra : Konkan also cultivated
    • Odisha : Kendrapara district, Cuttack district, Jagatsinghpur district
    • Tamil Nadu : Kancheepuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Cuddalore district, Nagapattinam district
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman Islands, Great Nicobar Island
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Christmas Island, Comoros, Fiji, Hainan, India, Jawa, Kenya, Lesser Sunda Islands, Madagascar, Malaya, Maluku, Marianas, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Philippines, Santa Cruz Islands, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, China, Christmas Island, Comoros, Fiji, Hainan, India, Jawa, Kenya, Lesser Sunda Islands, Madagascar, Malaya, Maluku, Marianas, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Philippines, Santa Cruz Islands, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam
  • Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
  • Literature :
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
    • Cecil J. Saldanha, S. R. Ramesh (1984). Flora of Karnataka 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.
    • B. K. Sinha. (1999). Flora of Great Nicobar Island (P. K. Hajra & P. S. N. Rao, Eds.). Botanical Survey of India.
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Heritiera littoralis
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Heritiera littoralis. Downloaded on 4 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution

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