TeTerminalia bellirica (Gaertner) Roxb. (COMBRETACEAE)
Common names
Kannada & Tulu: Shanthi.
Hindi: Bahera.
Tamil: Akkam, Kalanduri, Thani.
Telugu: Bhutavasamu tadim, Tandra, Vibhitakamu.
Description: Deciduous trees, up to 15 m tall; bark bluish-grey with vertical cracks. Leaves clustered at the ends of the branchlets, alternate, broadly elliptic to elliptic-obovate, up to 20 x 14 cm, cuneate at base, subacute or shortly acuminate, rarely obtuse at apex, coraicious; main nerves 6-8 pairs; petiole 3-10 cm long. Flowers in simple spikes, creamy white. Calyx 5-lobed, pubescent without, villous within. Petals 0. Stamens 10 in 2 series, the 5 upper alternate with the calyx lobes, the 5 lower opposite them; filaments subulate exserted; anther small. Disc 5-lobed, villous. The ovary is inferior and 1-celled, with a subulate style. The fruit is an indehiscent capsule, ovoid, measuring up to 3 x 2.5 cm. It exhibits slight 5-ridges and is covered in brown pubescence. Inside, there is a solitary seed.
Flowering & Fruiting: February – August.
Distribution: India: Almost throughout except the desert regions of the west. Common in deciduous to semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats up to 1000 m. Indomalaya.
Uses:
- The oil extracted from the kernels finds application in soap manufacturing. Although the wood is yellowish-grey, it lacks durability and is sparingly employed; however, it can be useful if meticulously seasoned. Used for petty construction, dugouts, side planks of boats, grain measures, ploughs, turnery, coopers work etc. The wood is used for fuel and for making charcoal. The fruit is used for dyeing. The fruit is the ‘Belliric myrabolam’ used in tanning.
- Bark mild diuretic, used in anaemia, leucoderma, used as an astringent for dressing wounds and sore throat; gum demulcent and purgative; fruit astringent, antidropsical, antileprotic, antiinflammatory, antidiarrhoeal, antibilious, stomachic, antiasthmatic, tonic, anticephalagic, bechic, anthelmintic, attenuant, used in bronchitis, strangury, sore throat, diseases of eye, nose and heart and bladder, piles; semi-ripe fruit purgative; oil from seed applied in rheumatic swellings. Fruits are an important constituent of the famous “Triphala” drug of Ayurveda.
