Mahua / Indian Butter Tree
Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- December-July
How to identify Mahua
Identify Mahua 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: Broader leaves, flowers/oil used commercially (Indian butter tree).
- Confirm leaf shape: Obovate (egg-shaped, broad at tip).
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: December-July.
- In India, compare location records such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Sapotaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Mahua.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia
- Genus
- Madhuca
- Family
- Sapotaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Banks of rivers in mixed deciduous forests and semi-Evergreen forests
- Native to
- India, Sri Lanka
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Odisha
- Flowering & fruiting
- December-July
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Obovate (egg-shaped, broad at tip)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Mahua itself; the rest are typical of the Sapotaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Berry
Typical of the Sapotaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Mahua महुआ
- Bengali
- Maul
- Tamil
- Kat-illipi
- Kannada
- ಇಪ್ಪೆ Ippe, ಹುನಗೆ Hunage
- Malayalam
- Illupa
- Marathi
- Mohwa
About Mahua
Indian Butter Tree (Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia) is a tree in the Sapotaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and 13 other states. It grows in banks of rivers in mixed deciduous forests and semi-Evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from December to July.
Sapotaceae
Sapodilla/Chicle family
Mahua belongs to the Sapotaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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