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.