Holigarna grahamii (Wight) Kurz

¿ ho-lee-GAR-nuh ? -- most probably, from the Kannada name of the plant - ಹೋಲಿಗಾರ holigaara
GRAM-ee-eye -- named for John Graham, author of Catalogue of Plants (Bombay)

commonly known as: blistering varnish tree • Kannada: ದೊಡ್ಡ ಎಲೆ ಹೊಲೆಗಾರ dodda ele holegaara, ಕಂಕಣಗಾಳ kankanagaala • Konkani: बिबोई biboi • Malayalam: ആനച്ചേര് aanacheru, നെയ്ചേര് nai-cheru, വെള്ളചേര് vellacheru • Marathi: बिबोई biboi, सुद्रबिलो sudrabilo • Tamil: வெள்ளை செரு vellai ceru, வெள்ளை சாரை vellai charai, வெண்சாரை vencharai


botanical names: Holigarna grahamii (Wight) Kurz ... homotypic synonyms: Holigarna wightii N.P.Balakr. • Katou-tsjeroe grahamii (Wight) Kuntze • Semecarpus grahamii Wight ... POWO, retrieved 25 December 2025

Bibliography / etymology

Links listed as references in the notes below, may not remain valid permanently. Portals / websites have a tendency to re-organize / revise their content, leading to change in URLs of pages in their site. Some sites may even close down at their own will. The bits about the languages of India mentioned below are merely some bare facts gathered from the internet; just enough to satisfy curiosity about "where" could the listed names be best prevalent in India. All English transliterated names to be taken sensu amplo.

~~~~~ ENGLISH ~~~~~

written and spoken widely, in most parts of India

blistering varnish tree

• Flowers of India, retrieved December 25, 2025

~~~~~ KANNADA ~~~~~

written in: Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) ... spoken in: Karnataka

ದೊಡ್ಡ ಎಲೆ ಹೊಲೆಗಾರ dodda ele holegaara, ಕಂಕಣಗಾಳ kankanagaala

• FRLHT's ENVIS Centre on Medicinal Plants
• S G Narsimhachar - Latin and Kannada names of indigenous and medicinal plants of Mysore - Mandayam Digital Library
• or ದೊಡ್ಡೆಲೆ ಹೊಲೆಗಾರ doddele holegaara ... BIOTIK (Biodiversity Informatics and co-operation in Taxonomy for Interactive shared Knowledge base)

~~~~~ KONKANI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (कोंकणी) / Kannada (ಕೊಂಕಣಿ) / Malayalam (കൊങ്കണി) / Perso-Arabic (کونکنی) / Romi (Konknni) ... spoken in: Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat

बिबोई biboi

• Dalgado, Daniel Gelanio. Flora de Goa e Savantvadi: catalogo methodico das plantas medicinaes, alimentares e industriaes. Portugal, Imprensa Nacional, 1898.
• V D Vartak (1966) - Enumeration of plants from Gomantak India with a note on botanical excursions to the Castlerock area - Shodhganga :: a reservoir of Indian theses @ INFLIBNET

~~~~~ MALAYALAM ~~~~~

written in: Malayalam (മലയാളം) ... spoken in: Kerala, Lakshadweep

ആനച്ചേര് aanacheru

• വിക്കിപീഡിയ - സ്വതന്ത്രസർവ്വവിജ്ഞാനകോശം ... Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
• Manjunath, K.M., H.S. Shashwathi, H.M.R. Jain & Y.L. Krishnamurthy (2024). The genus Holigarna Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb. (Anacardiaceae) in the central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(1): 24469–24484.
• or simply ചേര്‌ cheru ... BIOTIK (Biodiversity Informatics and co-operation in Taxonomy for Interactive shared Knowledge base)

നെയ്ചേര് nai-cheru, വെള്ളചേര് vellacheru

• Many thanks to Sam Kuzhalanattu for help with these names ... eFloraofIndia
• Pius O L - Resource inventory of the plants used in the Indian systems of medicine and folklore medicinal practices in the Malappuram District of Kerala :: Chapter 5 :: Shodhganga - a reservoir of Indian theses @ INFLIBNET

~~~~~ MARATHI ~~~~~

written in: Devanagari (मराठी) ... spoken in: Maharashtra, Karnataka

बिबोई biboi

• FRLHT's ENVIS Centre on Medicinal Plants

सुद्रबिलो sudrabilo

• मराठी विश्वकोश - महाराष्ट्र राज्य मराठी विश्वकोश निर्मिती मंडळ

~~~~~ TAMIL ~~~~~

written in: Tamil (தமிழ்) ... spoken in: Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

வெள்ளை செரு vellai ceru, வெள்ளை சாரை vellai charai, வெண்சாரை vencharai

• names coined, for want of name; many thanks to Dr Vijayasankar Raman for help with coining these names ... eFloraofIndia

~~~~~ KNOWN DISTRIBUTION in INDIA ~~~~~

Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu; endemic

• Hassler, Michael (1994 - 2025): World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Version 25.12; last update Dec. 21st, 2025. Last accessed 25/12/2025 (dd/mm/yyyy).
• Goa :: Datar, Mandar & Lakshminarasimhan, P.. (2013). Check List of Wild Angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem) National Park, Goa, India. Check List. 9. 186-207. 10.15560/9.2.186.

~~~~~ Created on: 18:44 25-12-2025 ¦ Last updated: 14:52 29-12-2025 (DD-MM-YYYY) ~~~~~

Anacardiaceae endemic evergreen tree "Holigarna grahamii" "Holigarna wightii" "Katou-tsjeroe grahamii" "Semecarpus grahamii" "blistering varnish tree"