Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston (SIMAROUBACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Dhupa, Hal-maddi
Tamil: Peru
Malayalam: Peru-marattoli
Telugu: Perumarum
Description: Lofty deciduous trees, up to 40 m tall. Leaves crowded, mostly paripinnate; leaf rachis 30 – 55 cm long; leaflets 14-22, opposite, subopposite or alternate, falcate, obliquely ovate-oblong, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, up to 15 x 4 cm, acute-acuminate at apex, entire or wavy along the margins, glaucaus beneath; petiolules up to 0.6 cm long. Flowers in dense axillary up to 50 cm long panicles, polygamous. Petals oblong-lanceolate, up to 5 x 1.5 mm, greenish-yellow. Stamens 3-4 mm long in male flowers; filaments filiform with spreading hairs; anthers ovate-cordate. Styles free at base, connate above; stigma 3-4 lobed, peltate. The fruit, a samara, is linear-oblong, measuring up to 9.5 by 2.5 centimeters, not twisted, and rounded at both ends.
Flowering & Fruiting: December – May
Distribution: India: Common in evergreen forests up to 1500 m. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.
Uses: The wood is very light and soft and used for packing-cases, fishing floats, boats, toys etc. A highly viscous aromatic resin is obtained when incisions are made in the bark. It is collected for local use as incense and forms an ingredient of agar-bathis. Bark carminative, tonic, febrifuge, used in dyspepsia; resin from the bark (Mittipal)/ bark juice stimulant, used in asthma, bronchial affections, dysentery; bark decoction used in typhoid and constipation; root bark antidote for cobra poisoning.
