Nirmali / Black Bitterberry
Strychnos potatorum
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & more
- Flowering
- April-December
How to identify Nirmali
Identify Nirmali 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: Seeds traditionally used to clarify muddy water.
- Confirm fruit type: Nut.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: April-December.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Loganiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Nirmali.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Strychnos potatorum
- Genus
- Strychnos
- Family
- Loganiaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Dry deciduous and mixed forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- India
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha
- Flowering & fruiting
- April-December
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit type
- NutrecordedA hard-shelled, single-seeded fruit that does not split open.“Strychnos potatorum also known as clearing-nut tree (Telugu: చిల్లగింజ, Kannada: kataka/ಕತಕ, Tamil: தேத்தான் கொட்டை(Thethankottai), Bengali: কতকা Hindi: Nirmali Burmese: ခပေါင်းရေက” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Characters marked “recorded” are for Nirmali itself; the rest are typical of the Loganiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- निर्मली Nirmali, Nirmali
- Nepali
- दमाई फल Damaai Phal, निर्मली Nirmali
- Bengali
- নির্মলী Nirmali
- Tamil
- Sirungamaram, Kal Kottei, Tattan Kottei, தேற்றாமரம்
- Kannada
- ಚಿಲ್ಲ Chilla
- Malayalam
- Thettamaram, Chillam, Kadakam
- Sinhala
- ඉඟිනි
About Nirmali
Black bitterberry (Strychnos potatorum) is a tree in the Loganiaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and 4 other states. It grows in dry deciduous and mixed forests. Flowering and fruiting run from April to December.
Loganiaceae
Logania Family
Nirmali belongs to the Loganiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Loganiaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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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.
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