North America Non-native Plant

Burahol

Botanical name: Stelechocarpus burahol

USDA symbol: STBU2

Native status: Not native but doesn't reproduce and persist in the wild

Burahol: The Mystery Plant That’s Hard to Pin Down If you’ve stumbled across the name burahol or its scientific name Stelechocarpus burahol while researching plants for your garden, you’re not alone in finding it puzzling. This mysterious plant seems to exist more in name than in readily available gardening information, ...

Burahol: The Mystery Plant That’s Hard to Pin Down

If you’ve stumbled across the name burahol or its scientific name Stelechocarpus burahol while researching plants for your garden, you’re not alone in finding it puzzling. This mysterious plant seems to exist more in name than in readily available gardening information, which makes it quite the botanical enigma!

What We Know (And Don’t Know) About Burahol

Burahol belongs to the dicot group of plants, which means it’s a flowering plant with two seed leaves. Beyond that basic classification, reliable information about this particular species is surprisingly scarce. Unlike popular native plants that have extensive growing guides and distribution maps, Stelechocarpus burahol appears to be either extremely rare, regionally specific, or possibly misidentified in plant databases.

The Challenge of Obscure Plant Names

Here’s where things get interesting (and a bit frustrating for curious gardeners). Sometimes plant names appear in lists or databases without corresponding growing information, native ranges, or cultivation details. This could happen for several reasons:

  • The plant might be extremely rare or endemic to a very specific region
  • It could be known primarily in academic circles rather than horticultural ones
  • The name might be a synonym or outdated classification
  • Regional common names sometimes get mixed up with scientific nomenclature

Unfortunately, without knowing the geographical distribution of burahol, we cannot provide a distribution map at this time.

A Word of Caution for Garden Enthusiasts

When you encounter a plant with limited available information like burahol, it’s wise to proceed carefully. Here’s what we recommend:

  • Double-check plant identification with local botanists or extension services
  • Verify the plant’s native status and invasive potential in your area
  • Ensure any plant material comes from reputable, legal sources
  • Consider well-documented native alternatives that provide similar benefits

Better Safe Than Sorry

While the mystery of burahol might be intriguing, successful native gardening typically relies on choosing well-researched plants with known growing requirements and ecological benefits. If you’re looking to support local wildlife and create a sustainable landscape, consider focusing on native plants that have extensive cultivation information and proven track records in gardens.

Your local native plant society, botanical garden, or university extension service can point you toward native alternatives that will thrive in your specific conditions while supporting local pollinators and wildlife.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes the most interesting plants are the ones we can’t easily grow in our gardens! While burahol remains an enigma, there are countless well-documented native plants waiting to transform your landscape. Focus your green thumb on these proven performers, and maybe someday we’ll solve the mystery of Stelechocarpus burahol together.

Burahol

Classification

Group

Dicot

Kingdom

Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom

Tracheobionta - Vascular plants

Superdivision

Spermatophyta - Seed plants

Division

Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants

Subdivision
Class

Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons

Subclass

Magnoliidae

Order

Magnoliales

Family

Annonaceae Juss. - Custard-apple family

Genus

Stelechocarpus (Blume) Hook. f. & Thomson - stelechocarpus

Species

Stelechocarpus burahol (Blume) Hook. f. & Thomson - burahol

Plant data source: USDA, NRCS 2025. The PLANTS Database. https://plants.usda.gov,. 2/25/2025. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA