Safed-Karai / Chilla
Casearia graveolens
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- November-July
How to identify Safed-Karai
Identify Safed-Karai by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Strong-smelling leaves.
- Confirm leaf shape: Elliptic.
- Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: November-July.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Flacourtiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Safed-Karai.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Casearia graveolens
- Genus
- Casearia
- Family
- Flacourtiaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Thailand
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- November-July
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- EllipticrecordedWidest at the middle, tapering evenly at both ends.“The leaves are broadly elliptic to elliptic-oblong, 6–15 cm by 4–8 cm, with reddish brown dots and streaks visible at low magnification.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Safed-Karai itself; the rest are typical of the Flacourtiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“Ripe seed capsule is orange-yellow, turning dark reddish-brown or blackish-brown when dry.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Safed-Karai itself; the rest are typical of the Flacourtiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Safed-Karai, Chilla, Phempri
- Telugu
- Girivudi, Vasanga, Veska
- Kannada
- ಹನಿಚೆ Haniche, Konje, Bokara
- Malayalam
- Anavananni, Anavinga, Cherukannan
- Marathi
- Bhokoda, Mori, Pimpari, बोखाडा
About Safed-Karai
A member of the Flacourtiaceae family, Chilla (Casearia graveolens) is a tree. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and 10 other states. It grows in deciduous forests. Flowering and fruiting run from November to July.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and cut for timber and furniture. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Flacourtiaceae
Flacourtia Family
Safed-Karai belongs to the Flacourtiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Flacourtiaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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