Nalbila / Oriental Purpleberry
Cipadessa baccifera
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- March-November
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Cipadessa baccifera
- Genus
- Cipadessa
- Family
- Meliaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Scrub, deciduous, moist deciduous, semi-Evergreen forests, also in the sacred groves
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Java, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand to Vietnam, Mayasia
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha
- Flowering & fruiting
- March-November
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Pinnately compoundrecordedLeaflets are arranged in rows along a central stalk, like a feather.“Leaves compound, imparipinnate;” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- EllipticrecordedWidest at the middle, tapering evenly at both ends.“lamina elliptic, apex acute to acuminate;” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Nalbila itself; the rest are typical of the Meliaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded“Flowers are white colored and show axillary panicles inflorescence.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flower arrangement
- PaniclerecordedA branching cluster of clusters.“Flowers are white colored and show axillary panicles inflorescence.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit type
- DruperecordedA fleshy fruit with a single hard stone/pit enclosing the seed.“Fruit is a globose drupe with 5 pyrenes.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Panicle
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Nalbila itself; the rest are typical of the Meliaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Nalbila
- Tamil
- Puilipan cheddi
- Kannada
- Narsullu, ಸಿತ್ತುಂಡೆ Sittunde, ಚೇಡುಬೀರ Chedubeera
- Malayalam
- Kaipanarangi, Potti, Pulippanchedi
- Marathi
- Ranabili, Gudmai, गुदमाई
About Nalbila
Oriental Purpleberry (Cipadessa baccifera) belongs to the Meliaceae family, where it grows as a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and 3 other states. It grows in scrub, deciduous, moist deciduous, semi-Evergreen forests, also in the sacred groves. Flowering and fruiting run from March to November.
Meliaceae
Mahogany/Neem family
Nalbila belongs to the Meliaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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