Chandigarh Forests
Department of Forest & Wildlife
UT Administration
Chandigarh
Department of Forest & Wildlife
|
Division
|
Gymnosperms |
|
Class
|
Coniferopsida |
|
Order |
Coniferales |
|
Family
|
Pinaceae |
|
Genus
|
Thuja |
|
Species
|
orientalis |
|
Etymology:
|
The name is derived from the Greek ‘thyon’ or thia, a tree that produced resin or incense, the resin is used incense during religious ceremonies. |
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Botanical name:
|
Thuja orientalis Linn. |
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Local/Trade Names: |
Chinese Arborvitae, Peacock Feathers, Mor Pankhi |
|
Conservation status: |
Commonly cultivated throughout India. |
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Digonestic features: |
Leaves flate. |
|
Description: |
An evergreen tree. Branchlets flattened and erect, a field character of this species which distinguishes it from Cupressus which are generally pendulous. Bark thin red-brown. Leaves scale-like, opposite and have a depression in the centre. Male catkins ovoid. Female cones ovoid, fleshy, glaucous-green at first turning reddish-brown 1.3 cm long, bearing down curved hooks. |
|
Phenology: |
Fls.: Jan.-Feb. Frts.: July-Nov. |
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Distribution: |
China, widely cultivated in North Indian gardens. |
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Where to see it: |
Pinetum |
|
Uses: |
Fruits and roots yield essential oils, and seeds a fatty oil. Leaves also yield an essential oil, used as a tonic, diuretic, and antipyretic. Twigs and leaves are a good source of tannin. Wood used for furniture, house-building, fence-posts, barrels, and casks. |
