Chandigarh Forests
Department of Forest & Wildlife
UT Administration
Chandigarh
Department of Forest & Wildlife
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Division
|
Angiosperms |
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Class
|
Dicotledons |
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Subclass |
Polypetalae |
|
Series |
Calyciflorae |
|
Order |
Myrtales |
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Family
|
Combretaceae |
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Genus
|
Terminalia |
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Species
|
alata |
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Etymology: |
Derived from the Latin word, ‘terminus’, and referring to the leaves borne at the ends of branchlets. |
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Botanical name:
|
Terminalia alata Heyne ex Roth (T. tomentosa (Roxb.) Wight. & Arn.) |
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Local/Trade Names: |
Laurel, Sain, Asain |
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Conservation status: |
Commonly found in forests. |
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Digonestic features: |
Bark resembling crocodile skin; leaves with 2-glands. Fruit winged. |
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Description: |
A large tree. Bark dark-grey or black, resembling crocodile skin. Leaves 10-20 x 6-10 cm, oblong, elliptic, ovate or obovate-oblong, tomentose beneath, midrib beneath often with 1-2 glands. Flowers dull-yellow. Fruits 3-5 cm long, with 5 broad coriaceous wings; wings ca 1 cm wide, striate with numerous horizontal veins. |
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Phenology: |
Fls.: June-Aug. Frts.: Aug.-Oct. Leaf-fall during Feb.-Apr. |
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Distribution: |
Sub-Himalayan tract, Deccan. Myanmar. |
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Where to see it: |
Medicinal Plant Garden. |
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Uses: |
Wood used for beams, joints, rafters, door and window frames, and boarding; also used in the construction of carts, toys, furniture, oil mills, rice pounders , engine brake blocks, electric casing, and rough carpentry. Suitable for tool-handles and agricultural implements and for plywood manufacture.Timber is also suitable for use as telegraph and electric poles and yields pulp for manufacture of printing and wrapping paper.Wood shows resistance to fire and is used in fire-proof buildings; yields good quality charcoal. Bark contains tannin and may be used for tanning, also for dyeing; exhausted bark may be used for extraction of oxalic acid and the resultant material may find use in board and allied industries. Bark is styptic and cardiotonic. Tree yields a gum, used as an adhesive and a purgative. Leaves used for feeding tasar silkworms. |
