Dipterocarpus indicus Beddome (DIPTEROCARPACEAE)
Common names:
Kannada: Banasampa, Challenne, Dhuma, Guga, Kallenne, Yenne.
Tamil: Ennei mara.
Malayalam: Kal payin, Velayini.
Description: Evergreen trees, ca 40 m tall. Leaves alternate, ovate or elliptic, ca 18 x 8 cm, entire, rounded at base, acute at apex. Stipules large, softly tomentose, covering terminal bud, caducous. Flowers in 3-8-flowered racemes, white, fragrant. Calyx tube large with 5 unequal lobes. Petals 5, puberulous on the outside. The fruit is a non-splitting nut, round in shape, ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 cm in diameter, ensconced within a growing calyx tube that has wings. These wings, measuring 7.5 to 14 cm in length and 3.5 cm in width, are upright and oblong, displaying a red hue.
Flowering: December – March
Fruiting: April – July
Distribution: India: In evergreen and semi-evergreen forests at low levels. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic to South W. India. A threatened species.
Uses:
- The reddish-brown wood, known for its hardness, finds extensive use in house construction, particularly for interior work. It is commonly employed in shipbuilding, making railway carriages, boat mast construction, and is also a valued resource within the plywood industry. It is suitable for use as railway sleepers after preservative treatment. The residual resin after the separation of the volatile oil from the oleo-resin can be employed in the preparation of spirit and oil varnishes.
- Garjan balsam obtained from trunk of tree is used as stimulant to genitourinary system and as diuretic, for treating gonorrhea, gleet, urinary infections, indolent ulcers, ringworm and cutaneous affections. The oleo-resin is also applied for treating rheumatic complaints.
