Bilangada / Governer's Plum
Flacourtia indica
Also known as Madagascar Plum, Batoko Palm
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & more
- Flowering
- December-August
How to identify Bilangada
Identify Bilangada 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: Small sour plum-like edible fruit.
- Confirm leaf shape: Ovate (egg-shaped, broad at base).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: December-August.
- In India, compare location records such as Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Flacourtiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Bilangada.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Flacourtia indica
- Genus
- Flacourtia
- Family
- Flacourtiaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Deciduous forests, scrub jungles and also in the plains
- Distribution
- Paleotropics, Madagascar to Indo-Malesia
- Found in India
- Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab
- Flowering & fruiting
- December-August
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Ovate (egg-shaped, broad at base)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Bilangada itself; the rest are typical of the Flacourtiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Typical of the Flacourtiaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- बिलाङ्गड़ा Bilangada
- Bengali
- বৈঁচি
- Tamil
- சொத்தைக்களா Cottai-k-kala
- Telugu
- నక్కనేరేడు Nakka-neredu
- Kannada
- ಕುಡುವಲೆ Kuduvale, ಗಜಾಲೆ Gajaale, ಹೆತ್ತರಿಮುಳ್ಳು Hettari mullu
- Malayalam
- കരിമുള്ളി Karimulli, അഘോരി
- Marathi
- अठरुन Athruna, तांबूट Tambut, तांबट
- Sinhala
- උගුරැස්ස, කටුලොවි
About Bilangada
Governer's Plum (Flacourtia indica) belongs to the Flacourtiaceae family, where it grows as a tree. In India it has been recorded in Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and 12 other states. It grows in deciduous forests, scrub jungles and also in the plains. Flowering and fruiting run from December to August.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and burnt as firewood or charcoal. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Flacourtiaceae
Flacourtia Family
Bilangada belongs to the Flacourtiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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