• Family : CAESALPINIACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : IMLI FAMILY (ईमली फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System IV) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Caesalpinioideae
• Basionym : Jonesia asoca Roxb.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd.
• Common name : Asoka tree, True Asoka, Sita Asoka, Sesbania Pea, Canicha, Prickly Sesban
• Vernacular name :
  • Ashoka, Ashok (Hindi)
  • Ashokada mara, Kengali mara (Kannada)
  • Asoka, Asavu (Tamil)
  • Kankeli, Asokamu, Asokam, Vanjulumu (Telugu)
  • Oshoko, Ashok (Oria)
  • Ashoka (Sanskrit)
  • Shokam, Hemapushpam, Vanjuulam (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Tropical evergreen forests, also grown as ornamental tree
• Key identification features : A smal tree with bright orange scarlet flowers
• Flower, Fruit : March-October
• Collector(s) Name : Cecil J. Saldanha, S.R.Ramesh, K.R.Keshava Murthy; B.R.Ramesh, S.R.Ramesh, S.Udaya Kumar, Shivaprakash
• Collection Date : 08-04-1979, 12-05-1981
• Collection Nos : KFP 6917, KFP 12845
• Collection Locality : Kollur ghat road, Dakshina Kannada district; Malalgaon (FRL), Uttara Kannada district
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Chittoor district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, Visakhapatnam district, Srikakulam district, West Godavari district, East Godavari district
  • Karnataka : Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district, Chikkamagaluru district, Dakshina Kannada district, Hassan district, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Tumakuru district, Shivamogga district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Odisha : Kendujhar district, Mayurbhanj district, Angul district, Dhenkanal district, Puri district
  • Tamil Nadu : Tamil Nadu
  • Jharkhand :
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • West Bengal : West Bengal
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
  • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
  • Assam : Assam
  • Nagaland : Nagaland
  • Delhi : Delhi
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Punjab : Punjab
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : South Andaman
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
• Native : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka
• Conservation Status : Vulnerable (VU)
• Literature :
  • Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2
  • 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
  • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
  • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
  • Sudhakar Reddy, C et al., 2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Prakasa Rao, J et al (2015). Tree additions to the flora of East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India. JoTT. 7 (12):7953-7957
  • NOORUNNISA BEGUM, S., K. RAVIKUMAR, D. K. VEDCURRENT (2014). Cur. Sci. 107, 26 (1) pp 26-28
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
  • Indigenous Plants at Biodiversity Park, Ranchi - Ranchi Afforestation Division, Forest and Environmental Department, Jharkhand
  • K.Ravikumar, A.C.Tangavelou, & Navendu Page. (2021). Seed plants of Karnataka, India: A concise dictionary. FRLHT-TDU, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai.
  • 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=Saraca asoca
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Saraca asoca. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution