Madhuca longifolia is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the central, southern, north Indian plains and forests, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is commonly known as madhūka, madkam, mahuwa, Butter Tree, mahua, mahwa, mohulo, Iluppai, Mee or vippa chettu. It is a fast-growing tree that grows to approximately 20 meters in height, possesses evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage, and belongs to the family Sapotaceae. It is adaptable to arid environments, being a prominent tree in tropical mixed deciduous forests in India in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Madhuca longifolia
M. longifolia in Hyderabad, India
Mahua flowers
Mahua
The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order Ericales. The family includes about 800 species of evergreen trees and shrubs in around 65 genera. Their distribution is pantropical.
Image: Pouteria sapota marmalade tree desc leaf cluster from DC1
Image: Pouteria sapota La Havane
Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia in Narsapur, Medak district, India