Terminalia alata

Roth.

Combretaceae Edible: Gum 793 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A tropical tree reaching 30 m tall, found in Nepal between 200-1,400 m elevation.

This description is brief — help expand it

Edible Uses

Gum from the tree is used as food.

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

It is a tropical plant. It grows between 200-1,400 m above sea level in Nepal.

Where It Grows

Asia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, SE Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam,

Notes

An unresolved name in The Plant List. There are 3 different authorities for Terminalia alata!

Synonyms

Terminalia alata Heyne ex RothTerminalia tomentosa (Roxb.) Wight & Arn.Possibly now Pentaptera tomentosa Roxb. ex DC.

Also Known As

Paung, Taukkyan

References (3)

Behera K. K., et al, 2008, Wild Edible Plants of Mayurbhanj District, Orissa, India. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 32 (Suppl.) pp 305-314 (As Terminalia alata)
Pullaiah, T., et al, Ethnobotany of India, Volume 1: Eastern Ghats and Deccan.
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