Statue of Unity – Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat Rain Forest Ektanagar

Madhuca longifolia var. longifolia

Syn. Bassia villosa

IUCN Red List Least Concern (LC)

Local name

  • Indian Butter Tree (English)
  • Mahua (Hindi)
  • Mahuda (Gujarati)

Tree type

Evergreen Deciduous
Family: Sapotaceae
17m

Indicated uses

Medicinal Edible Ornamental Avenue Other

Flowering & fruiting

Flowering Fruiting

Key characters

Madhuca longifolia bark

Bark

With a thick, grey bark, vertically cracked and wrinkled.

Madhuca longifolia leaves

Leaves

Leaves are simple, alternate, and linear-lanceolate, measuring 7–25 cm long by 2–5 cm wide with a tapered apex, coriaceous (leathery), clustered at branch ends.

Madhuca longifolia flower

Flower

The flower stalks are green or pink and furry, about 5 cm long. The plum-coloured calyx is covered with fine hairs and is divided into four or five lobes, within them lies the globular corolla, thick, juicy and creamy white.

Madhuca longifolia fruit / seeds

Fruit / Seeds

They are fleshy, green berries, quite large and containing from one to four shiny, brown seeds.

Madhuca longifolia

Did you know?

Mahua flower collection provides seasonal income for Adivasi communities across Central and eastern India through drying, storage and local-market sales. Unlike most flowers, Mahua blossoms do not spread their petals widely; they remain compact, fleshy and globose.

Distribution

World map showing distribution

Central Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh to Myanmar.