Makhana / Fox-Nut
Euryale ferox
Also known as Gorgon Fruit
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Assam, Tripura, Bihar & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
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.
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