Category: H

Hopea racophloea Dyer (DIPTEROCARPACEAE)

Common names
Tamil: Karung Kongu.
Malayalam: Neduvali kongu.

Description: Evergreen trees; bark blackish, peeling off in long stripes from base upwards which becomes recurred and hang all round the trunk; young twigs, petioles, panicles and calyx glabrous. Leaves ovate, up to 11.5 x 6.5 cm, acute at base, shortly caudate-acuminate at apex, glabrous. Flowers in axillary panicles, yellowish-white with pink tinge. Calyx lobes 5, equal, spathulate, obtuse. Petals 5, glabrous inside, hairy outside, with a twisted, flattened appendage at apex. The stylopodium is nearly as long as the ovary, taking a cylindrical form. The fruit’s underside is smooth, and it has two wings measuring 7.5 – 8.5 cm in length, displaying a reddish color.

Flowering: April – May
Fruiting: May – August

Distribution: India: In evergreen forests of Western Ghats up to 1000 m. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.

Hopea ponga (Dennst.) Mabb. (DIPTEROCARPACEAE)

Common names
English: Thingam.
Kannada: Doddele bogi, Haiga, Hiribogi.
Tulu: Karmara.
Tamil: Ila pongu.
Malayalam: Pongu, irumbagam.

Description: Towering evergreen trees, reaching heights of up to 40 meters; their bark is thin, smooth, dark-colored, featuring prominent patches and exfoliating in large, rectangular plates, revealing a white or yellowish interior. Leaves ovate, oblong or oblanceolate, 10-20 x 4.8 cm, truncate at base, obtuse or acute at apex; lateral nerves ca 10 pairs, obliquely curved, prominent above; petioles up to 1.5 cm long, yellow tomentose. Flowers in axillary, secund, racemose panicles, creamy white with pink tinge. Calyx 5- lobed, lobes unequal. Petals 5, ovate-lanceolate or falcate-oblong, pubescent outside. Stamens 10 or 15. Fruit ovoid, ca 1.3 cm long, green turning red when mature; wings 2, 5-7 x 1.3 – 1.5 cm.

Flowering: March – April

Fruiting: May – July.

Distribution: India: In evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.

Uses: Wood brown, hard, used for building construction, for posts, piles, beams and rafters and for making cart wheels. It has been recommended for cabinet work, brush back, inlay and turnery. It yields an excellent fuel.

Hopea parviflora Beddome (DIPTEROCARPACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Bogi mara, Bovige, Bovu mara, Irupu, Kiral bogi.

Description: Evergreen trees, ca 40 m tall; bark light brown or greyish, mottled with white markings. Leaves ovate to oblong or ovate-lanceolate, ca 8×3.5 cm, acute or rounded at base, acute and apiculate or bluntly acuminate at apex; lateral nerves ca 10 pairs, axils of nerves beneath furnished with glands (domatia); petioles ca 1 cm long, grooved above. Flowers in secund, tomentose panicles, creamy-yellow, fragrant. Sepals pubescent. Petals 5, lanceolate, glabrous. There are 15 stamens, or rarely 10; the connective of the anthers extends into a subulate point, reaching half the length of the anthers. The fruits are surrounded by the enlarging sepals, two of which develop into upright wings, measuring up to 5.5 cm in length.

Flowering: January – May.

Fruiting: April – June.

Distribution: India: In evergreen forests up to 1100 m. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic to South W. India.

Uses: Wood brown, close-grained, hard, used extensively in house construction, for planking, as piles for bridges, for making platform boards, agricultural implements, for making railway sleepers and electric poles. It is also used for parts of ships, boat building, road rammers, rice pounders, sets, ladders, engine break blocks, railway keys, picker arms and for decorative wood work and turnery. The bark is considered a good tanning material and is used for tanning especially heavy quality leather.

Holoptelea integrifolia (Roxb.) Planchon (ULMACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Rasbeeja, Thavasai.
Tulu: Raavu beeja.
Tamil: Aya, Tambachi.
Telugu: Thapasi, Nauli.

Description: Deciduous trees, 15-20 m tall with grey, pustular bark. Leaves alternate, distichous, elliptic, oblong or elliptic-ovate, 8-13 x 3-6 cm, rounded or cordate at base, acute or acuminate at apex, glabrous, penninerved; main nerves 5-7 pairs; petioles 0.5 – 1.5 cm long; stipules lateral. Flowers polygamous in short racemes or fascicles at the scars of fallen leaves, brownish. Perianth simple, calycine, lobes 4, unequal. Stamens 4-8 (often 6 or 7); filaments erect; anthers pubescent, hairy. The ovary is unilocular with a short, bifid style. The fruit takes the form of an indehiscent samara, circular and flat, with wings approximately 2.5 cm in diameter that are membranous. There is a single, flat seed within.

Flowering & Fruiting: January – April.

Distribution: India: Western Peninsula. Occasional in deciduous hill forests of Deccan, E. slopes of Western Ghats. Sri Lanka, Indo-China.

Uses:

• The leaves and young fruits are consumed. The wood, characterized by its light yellow hue and moderate weight, finds application in various uses such as brush backs and handles for dusting brooms, indoor construction, affordable furniture, cabinet work, carving, ploughs, yokes, carts and carriages, combs, shoe heels, mathematical instruments, warper bobbins for jute mills, cotton reels, and the construction of dugout boats. The wood is also suitable for plywood, packing cases, slate frames, multi-ply jute bobbins, and matchboxes and splints.
• The wood is used as fuel and for making charcoal. The wood is used for paper pulp. The bark may be pulped and made into hardboards and insulation boards. The bark is used in tuberculosis, piles, fistula, abdominal diseases, leprosy, polyuria and vomiting.

Hopea canarensis Hole (DIPTEROCARPACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Malai haiga

Description: Trees, ca 20 m tall. Leaves ovate or oblong, up to 18 x 9 cm, rounded or cordate at base, obtuse or acuminate at apex, majority of secondary nerves with gland-like swellings (domatia) in their axils beneath. Flowers in panicles of racemes. Calyx 5-lobed, lobes unequal. Petals 5, falcate-oblong, 8-9 x 3 mm, exposed portion densely stellate – pubescent. Stamens many. Stylopodium stout, ovoid or oblong. The fruits are ovoid, measuring 1.2 – 1.5 cm in length, and are enveloped by the enlarging sepals, two of which transform into wings. These wings extend to a length of 5-8 cm.

Flowering & Fruiting: May – July

Distribution: India: Western Ghats of Karnataka. Endemic.