• Family : MIMOSACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BABOOL FAMILY (बबूल फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System IV) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Mimosoideae
• Basionym : Acacia arabica (Lam.) Willd. var. indica Benth.
• Synonym(s) : Mimosa arabica Lam.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Vachellia nilotica subsp. indica (Benth.) Kyal. & Boatwr.
• Common name : Babool Acacia, Indian Gum Arabic, Black Babool Tree
• Vernacular name :
  • Babul, Babur, Kikar (Hindi)
  • Kari jali, Gobli (Kannada)
  • Karuvaelam (Tamil)
  • Nalla-tumma (Telugu)
  • Babur, Bambur, Babullo (Oria)
  • Barburah, Vavari (Sanskrit)
  • Babhal (Marathi)
• Habit : Tree
• Comments / notes : In plains along Agricultural margins from the coast to 500m,mostly by arable lands.
• Key identification features : Bark dark brown, very rough with deep narrow longitudinal fissures, exudes good gum when insure, blaze pinkish brown
• Flower, Fruit : August-April
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Prakasam district, Kurnool district, East Godavari district, Visakhapatnam district, Anantapur district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, Chittoor district, Srikakulam district
  • Karnataka : All districts of Karnataka
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Ganjam district, Koraput district, Mayurbhanj district, Cuttack district, Puri district, Sambalpur district, Koraput district
  • Tamil Nadu : Vellore district, Tiruvannamalai district, Tiruchirapalli district, Salem district, Namakkal district
  • Madhya Pradesh : Madhya Pradesh
  • 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
  • Rajasthan : Jaisalmer district, Barmer district, Bikaner district, Jodhpur district
  • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
  • Mizoram : Mizoram
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : South Andaman
  • Manipur : Manipur
  • Tripura : Tripura
• Native : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Yemen
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Yemen
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• 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 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
  • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1
  • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan
  • Saldanha, 1984
  • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Flora of Bangalore district, Karnataka state
  • Seetharam et al., 2000 - Gulbarga
  • Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore
  • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi
  • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
  • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Flora of Himachal Pradesh. Volume 1, Botanical Survey of India, 1984. Pg.: 169
  • 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=Acacia nilotica subsp. indica
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Acacia nilotica subsp. 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