THE ELEPHANT 'S FAVOURITE
THE ELEPHANT APPLE One more popular fruit of North-eastern part of India particularly Assam is the Elephant Apple or Dillenia indica. It is called 'Ou-tenga' in Assamese and 'chalta' in Hindi .The fruit is native to South-eastern Asia and found abundantly in India,Srilanka, China, Vietnam,Thailand,Malaysia and Indonesia. Today the fruit grows throughout Asia and parts of Australia. In India, the fruit grows in the northern tropical region particularly in Assam,West Bengal,Bihar,Odisha,Madhya Pradesh and toward the south in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The fruit also thrives in swamps,semi-tropical and the evergreen forest of the sub-Himalayan tract from Kumaon to Garhwal. The existence of the elephant apple in the wild indicates elephant habitat. This fruit is commonly called elephant apple because it is a favorite fruit of the elephants and these elephant are important seed dispenser.It is therefore prohibited to collect these fruits from the core are