Terminalia chebula Retz. (COMBRETACEAE)
Common names
Kannada & Tulu: Alale, Anile.
Malayalam: Divya, Katukka.
Tamil: Amagola, Kadukkai.
Telugu: Karakkai.
English: Black Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan.
Description: Deciduous trees; up to 25 m tall with dark brown rough bark. Leaves alternate or sub-opposite, ovate or elliptic-oblong, up to 18 x 9.5 cm, rounded or cordate at base, obtuse or acute at apex, clothed with silky hairs when young, petioles up to 2.5 cm long with a pair of large glands at the top. Flowers in 4.0 – 8 cm long terminal spikes, pale yellow. Calyx companulate, hairy within, lobes 5. Corolla 0. Disc densely villous. There are 10 stamens arranged in two series. The ovary is 1-locular. The fruit is a hanging drupe, obovoid or ellipsoidal, approximately 4 x 2.5 cm in size. It is smooth, shiny, and turns yellowish when ripe. Inside, there is a solitary hard seed.
Flowering & Fruiting : January – October.
Distribution: India: Throughout. Common in deciduous forests of Deccan, W. Coast and Western Ghats. Sri Lanka, Myanmar.
Uses:
- The wood is characterized by a brownish-grey hue and exceptional hardness. Although the timber holds limited commercial value, it is primarily utilized in construction, as well as for crafting posts and beams. Additionally, it finds occasional use in the making of carts and dugouts. It is suitable for the manufacture of tool handles. The dried fruits (“Myrobalan”, “Chebulic Myrobalan”) constitute one of the most important vegetable tanning materials and have been used in India for a long time. The dried flesh surrounding the seed is rich in tannin. Myrobalan is useful especially in the production of sole-leather. It is also used for book-binding leathers.
- Bark diuretic, cardiotonic; fruit astringent, purgative, tonic, carminative, alterative, stomachic, used in asthma, dysentery, paralysis, piles, cold, ophthalmia, sore throat, dental caries, bleeding and ulceration of gums, scalds, burns, diseases of spleen, strengthens brain and enriches blood. Fruit along with those of Phyllanthus emblica L. and Terminalia bellirica (Gaertner) Roxb. are constituents of “Triphala” which is prescribed for stomach disorders and as an astringent.
