Wild Karanda

Common name: Wild Karanda • Hindi: Jungli Karonda जंगली करौंदा • Telugu: Kavali • Oriya: Karamdika • Marathi: karvand • Tamil: சிருகிலா Chirukila
Botanical name: Carissa spinarum Family: Apocynaceae (Oleander family)
Synonyms: Carissa hirsuta, Carissa diffusa, Carissa opaca
Wild Karanda is the wild cousine of the Karanda (Carissa carandas). It is an erect thorny shrub, with forked branches, 2-3 m in height. Wood is very hard; bark, light brown to green, can be stripped off longitudinally by hand, exposing the white to light-green wood underneath; thorns, 3.2 cm long, brown to greenish at the base and deep brown towards the tip. Leaves, ovate, 4.5 cm long, 2.5 cm broad, leathery; venation, reticulate pinnate; margin, entire; petiole 3 mm long; leaves exuding a white latex, when plucked from the stem. Flowers with five white narrow petals. The thorny bushes of Wild Karanda are found commonly growing in the forests and wastelands up to elevations of 1,500 metres. They are highly drought-resistant. They bear small fruits which are eaten by all and are also offered for sale at many places. This shrub is found wild in most parts of India, especially in the dry foothills of the Punjab, the sub-Himalayan tract up to 4,000 feet in the trans-Indus territory and also on the coast of the southern Andamans