Makhana / Fox-Nut
Euryale ferox
Also known as Gorgon Fruit
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Assam, Tripura, Bihar & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Makhana
Identify Makhana by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Spiny floating leaves, edible seeds (fox nut/makhana).
- Confirm flower colour: Purple.
- Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Nymphaeaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Makhana.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Euryale ferox
- Genus
- Euryale
- Family
- Nymphaeaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Aquatic
- Habitat type
- Wetland
- Distribution
- India, Southeast Asia, China
- Found in India
- Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
Typical of the Nymphaeaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“The fruit is a spiny capsule 5–10 cm diameter, containing numerous spongy-textured seeds.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Characters marked “recorded” are for Makhana itself; the rest are typical of the Nymphaeaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- मखाना Makhana,मखाना makhana, makhana
- Nepali
- मखाना Makhaanaa
- Bengali
- মাখনা
- Tamil
- Karuntamarai, மல்லாநி பத்மந் Mallani-Padman, அல்லி விதைகள்
- Telugu
- మెల్లునిపద్మన Mellunipadmanu, పూల్ మఖానా
- Kannada
- ಜೇವಾರ Jewara, ನರಿಕಾಯಿ Narikaayi, ಮಖಾನಾ Makhana
About Makhana
A member of the Nymphaeaceae family, Fox-nut (Euryale ferox) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in Assam, Tripura, Bihar and 3 other states. It grows in aquatic. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
In practice it is grown for parts that are eaten and long used in traditional medicine. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
Nymphaeaceae
Water-Lily Family
Makhana belongs to the Nymphaeaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Nymphaeaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Makhana or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
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.
All plant problem & care guides