Terminalia tomentosa

Description

A tree. It can be 30 m tall. The trunk is straight and clear. It can be 1 m across. The bark is cracked. The tree loses its leaves during the year.

Edible Uses

The bark is used as a source of sugar.

Medicinal Uses

The wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, joinery, paneling, specialty items, boat-building, railroad cross-ties (treated), decorative veneers and for musical instruments (e.g. for guitar fretboard). The leaves are used as food by Antheraea paphia (silkworms) which produce the tassar silk (Tussah), a form of commercially important wild silk. The bark is used medicinally against diarrhoea. Oxalic acid can be extracted from it. The bark and especially the fruit yield pyrogallol and catechol to dye and tan leather. Water stored in the stem is often tapped and used as a source of potable water in the summer by forest folk. It is also thought to have curative value for stomach pain. Outside of its native range, it is cultivated in southern China.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in forest in the humid regions of India. It grows up to 1,300 m above sea level. It usually grows in areas with a temperature between 22°-35°C and an annual rainfall between 1,000-2,000 mm.

Where It Grows

Asia, Cambodia, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Myanmar, Nepal, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Sikkim,

Synonyms

Also Known As

Asan, Asna, Chhlik, Karra marda, Maddi, Matti, Nallamaddi, Sadada, Sain ain, Taukkyan

References (6)

• Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 80
• Prodr. 314. 1834
• Sundriyal, M. & Sundriyal, R. C., 2004, Structure, Phenology, Fruit Yield, and Future Prospects of some Prominent Wild Edible Plant Species of the Sikkim Himalaya, India. Journal of Ethnobiology 24(1): 113-138
• Tanaka,
• Uphof,

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