Balanites roxburghii
Planch.
Desert date
(c) Siddarth Machado, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Siddarth Machado
(c) Malaika Mathew Chawla, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit - medicine
The bitter pulp of the fruit is eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant. It grows in open sandy places. It grows up to 500 m above sea level.
Asia, India, Sikkim,
How to Identify
A spiny tree. It grows 9 m tall. The leaves have leaflets. The flowers are greenish white. They are small and have a scent. The fruit pods are 4.5 cm long by 2.5 cm wide.
How to Grow
The seeds are soaked in water for several hours before planting.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Balanites roxburghii is a spiny, evergreen tree in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is common in open sandy plains of the Indian peninsula, western Rajasthan, west Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat and drier parts of India. The specific epithet roxburghii refers to the Scottish botanist William Roxburgh.
Names & Synonyms
Garachetti, Gari, Hingol, Hingot, Ingala, Ingalike, Namunta, Nanchunta, Tapasataru, Tiktaka
References (1)
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
