Pongam
ಹೊಂಗೆ ಮರकरंज
Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Little
- tall
- 11 m
- wide
- 13 m
Fabaceae
Also called Indian beech tree, Indian beech, Pongame oiltree, Pongamia
Formerly Cajum pinnatum, Cytisus pinnatus, Galedupa pinnata, Millettia pinnata
When it flowers
Flowers February to April and September to November in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Shrub or treeKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Trop. & Subtrop. Asia to W. PacificKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from UF/IFAS, one source
- Height
- 9.1 m to 12 mRead from UF/IFAS, one source
- Spread
- 9.1 m to 17 mRead from UF/IFAS, one source
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from UF/IFAS and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Flowers
- White, pink, purpleRead from UF/IFAS and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Coldest it survives
- -1.1 °C (USDA zone 10a)Read from UF/IFAS, one source
- Hottest it survives
- 50 °CRead from Wikipedia, one source
Not known yet: heat.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
Apple-of-PeruFlowers May to August and December to January, when this does not
Arabian jasmineFlowers May to August and December to January, when this does not
Barbados lilyFlowers May to August and December to January, when this does not
Billygoat weedFlowers May to August and December to January, when this does not
Black-eyed Susan vineFlowers May to August and December to January, when this does not
Blue dazeFlowers May to August and December to January, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- Chinese (China)
- 水黄皮
- root
- kisaks, Kisakes, புங்கை
- Russian
- Понгамия перистая
- German
- Indische Buche, Pongambaum
- Japanese
- クロヨナ
- Chinese
- 水黃皮, 水黄皮, 枳茹
- Indonesian
- Kayu Besi Laut, Malapari, Mempari
- Thai
- หยีน้ำ
- Kannada
- ಹೊಂಗೆ ಮರ
- Marathi
- करंज
- Slovak
- pongamia perovitá
- Filipino
- Bani
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- UF/IFAS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, Public domain
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Pongamia pinnata (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.