• Family : ANACARDIACEAE
  (Cashew Or Mango Or Sumac Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : AAM FAMILY (आम फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System IV) : Anacardiaceae
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Semecarpus anacardium L.f.
• Common name : Indian Marking Nut Tree, Oriental Cashew Nut, Dhobi Nut Tree
• Vernacular name :
  • Bhelwa, Bhelva (Hindi)
  • Kari geru (Kannada)
  • Nallajidi, Bhallatiki, Chakalijidi (Telugu)
  • Bhalia, Balia (Oria)
  • Bhalataka (Sanskrit)
  • Bibba (Marathi)
  • Alakkucheru, Cherkuru, Cheru, Cherumaram, Perkuru, Sambiri, Temprakku, Thenkotta (Malayalam)
  • Cheran kottai, Shen kottai, Sheru, Thembarai (Tamil)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Tropical moist deciduous forests, Tropical semi-evergreen forests, on hills to 1000 m, Tropical dry evergreen forests
• Comments / notes : Common in deciduous forests
• Key identification features : Medium sized tree; drupes black, obliquely oblong, seated on a triangular orange-coloured fleshy receptacle
• Flower, Fruit : July-April
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Chittoor district, East Godavari district, Kurnool district, Srikakulam district, West Godavari district, Visakhapatnam district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district, Kolar district, Belagavi district, Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district, Bidar district, Chitradurga district, Dakshina Kannada district, Davanagere district, Hassan district, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) district, Kodagu (Coorg) district, Mysuru district, Shivamogga district, Tumakuru district, Udupi district, Uttara Kannada district
  • Kerala : Wayanad district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Kottayam district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Mayurbhanj district
  • Tamil Nadu : Vellore district, Salem district, Tiruchirapalli district, Dindigul district, Kancheepuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Coimbatore district, Kanyakumari district, The Nilgiri district, Tiruvannamalai district, Dharmapuri district, Villipuram district, Cuddalore district
  • Madhya Pradesh : Madhya Pradesh
  • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
  • Sikkim : Sikkim
  • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
  • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
  • Assam : Assam
  • Nagaland : Nagaland
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
• Native : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal
• 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
  • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
  • Sankar,R.V., R. Kottaimuthu & K. Ravikumar (2009). Additions to the flora of Sirumalai Hills, Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(7): 379-381.
  • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
  • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • Naidu, M.T. & O.A. Kumar 2015. Tree species diversity in the Eastern Ghats of Northern Andhra Pradesh, India. JoTT 7 (8): 7443-7459
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
  • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Flora of Himachal Pradesh. Volume 1, Botanical Survey of India, 1984. Pg.: 166
  • K.Ravikumar, A.C.Tangavelou, & Navendu Page. (2021). Seed plants of Karnataka, India: A concise dictionary. FRLHT-TDU, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai.
• 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=Semecarpus anacardium
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Semecarpus anacardium. Downloaded on 4 October 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution