The Sissoo tree

                                     DALBERGIA SISSOO                            

Family- Fabaceae 

Scientific name - Dalbergia sissoo      

COMMON NAMES –

   1) It is called as Shisham, sissu or tali.

   2) Sisso is one of the vernacular names.

   3) It is also known as Indian rosewood tree.

GENERAL INFORMATION OF THE SISSOO TREE –

   1) A fairly large deciduous tree with dark grey rough bark.

   2) Leaves composed of 3-5 leaflets arranged alternately on a somewhat zigzag axis which is swollen at the base.

   3) Flowers about 0.25- inch long, yellowish-white, rather  numerous, inconspicuous but sweet-scented.

                             

   4) Stamens 9, united in a tube slit along the upper side.

   5) Fruit a thin strap-shaped pod 1.5-4 inches long by 0.3-0.5 inch wide, containing 1-4 flattened seeds.

   6) Leafless in January, February, the fresh foliage appearing in       7) March and the flowers soon after.

   8) The fruit ripens in November but remains hanging on the trees for several months.

USES OF THE SISSOO TREE –

   1) The shisham is the favourite road-side tree in upper India.

   2) For this purpose it has many advantages.

   3) It is easily grown, fairly rapid in growth, in full foliage during the hot weather and almost immune from lopping, barking and other forms of wanton damage. 

   4) The leaves are not used for fodder and the bark is not used for tanning or medicine.

   5) The timber is valuable.

   6) The sap-wood is perishable being very subject to attack by borers but the heart-wood is durable.

   7) It is hard, heavy, brown in colour with darker streaks.

   8) Though not easy to work it takes an excellent polish and is one of the main furniture woods.

   9) It is also used for spokes of wheels, carts, boats and many other purposes.

HABITAT OF THE SISSOO TREE –

   1) Indigenous along the foot of the Himalaya from the Indus to              2) Assam extending along the banks of rivers for some distance into the plains.

   3) As the result of cultivation it is now found in many places where it is not indigenous especially in irrigated tracts.

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Morus alba

 

MORUS ALBA

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Family – Moraceae

Scientific name – Morus alba

COMMON NAMES:

   1) The Mulberry.

   2) Tut.

   3) Morus is the Latin name for the mulberry.

   4) Alba in Latin means white and refers to the fruit.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

   1) This tree is a medium-sized deciduous tree, bark of large trees dark greyish brown, rough, the fissures mainly vertical.

   2) Leaves varying markedly in shape according to the age of the tree, in young plants and on vigorous shoots of old plants the leaves are usually deeply lobed, normally they are unlobed and 2-3 inches long.

   3) Flowers of this tree are unisexual, very small, greenish, the sexes separated on different axes either on the same branch or on the different branches or occasionally a tree produces only male spikes or only female spikes.

   4) Male spikes 0.5 -1.5 inches long, the flowers not densely crowded.

   5) Sepals 4, hairy, 1/10 inch long.

   6) Female spikes shorter than the male, the flowers crowded.

   7) Sepals 4, not hairy or only slightly so on the edges.

   8) Fruit 0.5 – 1 inch long, sometimes white, but more often red becoming black when ripe.

   9) The fruit of the mulberry, using the term in its popular sense, is not a true fruit like a mango in that in that firstly it is produced by a cluster of flowers instead of one flower and secondly the edible portion consists of the sepals, which became enlarge succulent.

 10) The fruit strictly speaking is the portion which would ordinarily be called a seed.

 11) The mulberry is leafless during the cold weather.

 12) The flowers appear with the young leaves in March, April and the fruit ripens about a month after flowering.

 13) The twigs and leaves contain a milky juice which is not very copious.

USES OF THE MULBERRY:

   1) The leaves of the mulberry are used as food for silk-worms.

   2) The bark of small twigs contains a fibre and strips of bark can be used for tying in place of string.

   3) The wood is a fairly good substitute for ash and is used for tool handless, bent wood frames of badminton and cheap tennis rackets, hockey sticks and cricket stumps.

   4) It is also used for shaft and tongas.

   5) The fruit is edible but is not of good quality.

HABITAT:

   1) Native of China.

   2) Now found wild in the less tropical portions of India and has spread greatly with the extension of irrigation, tending to come up freely under the shade of other trees and sometimes replacing them in plantations.

   3) In Bengal and other more tropical parts of India this species is replaced by other mulberries some of which are indigenous.

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Cedrela toona

 

CEDRELA TOONA

Family – Meliaceae

Scientific name – Cedrela toona

COMMON NAMES:

   1) It is named as Tun or Toon.

   2) Cedrela is from the latin Cedrus, the Cedar, and is given on account of the scented wood.

   3) Toona a latinized form of the vernacular name.  

GENERAL INFORMATION:

   1) This tree is a large deciduous tree.

   2) It has smooth bark in young trees, afterwards cracking longitudinally and transversely and exfoliating in irregular scales.

   3) Leaves 1-2 feet long, consisting of 4-15 pairs of leaflets, with occasionally a terminal leaflets in addition.

   4) Flowers 0.5 inch long, honey-scented, yellowish-white, in drooping bunches.

   5) Fruit is dry and opening with 5 valves when ripe, thus liberating the seeds and exposing a 5-angled column of soft white pith which occupies the centre of the fruit.

   6) Seeds pale brown, flat, winged at both ends and very light.

   7) From the end of December to the middle of March this tree is leafless.

   8) The young leaves are fine pinkish red but soon change to bright green.

   9) The flowers appear from March to May and ripe seeds are produced in May to July.

   10) The empty fruits remain hanging on the trees long after the seeds are shed and may be seen when the trees are leafless.

USES OF THE CEDRELA TOONA:

   1) The bark is used medicinally as a tonic.

   2) A yellow dye is obtained from the flowers.

   3) The main value of the toon is however foe shade and timber.

   4) As it is of rapid growth and easily cultivated it is much used for roadside tree in moist localities.

   5) It reaches a height of 80 feet and girth of 10 feet and under favourable conditions will reach a girth of 5 feet in 30 years.

   6) The timber is red, seasons and works well and takes a good polish.

   7) It is durable and not very and consequently it is much used for furniture.

HABITAT:

   1) Throughout India and Burma but only in the moister tracts especially in ravines, near rivers or swampy places.

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Tectona grandis

 THE TEAK TREE

Family – Lamiaceae

Scientific name – Tectona grandis.

COMMON NAMES –

   1) In Hindi it is called Sagun.

   2) Tectona and teak are both derived from the Malayalam name tekku through the Portuguese teca.

GENERAL INFORMATION –

   1) A large deciduous tree with light grey bark which peels off in thin vertical strips.

   2) The branchlets of the tree are quadrangular.

   3) Leaves are mostly 12-24 inches long, 6-12 inches wide, very rough on the upper surface, and with stellate hairs on the lowers surface.

   4) Flowers 0.25 inch diameter, white, in huge open rather stiff bunches.

   5) Fruit about 0.5 inch diameter, roughly globular but somewhat pointed pointed at the apex, consisting of a large bony stone containing 1-4 seeds in thick felt covering, whole enclosed in the gently enlarged bladder-like calyx.

   6) Leaves fall from November to March and the fresh leaves appear from April to June, in both cases the time depends on the dryness of the locality or season.

   7) Flowers June to September and the fruits ripen from November to January but do not fall readily.

   8) The young leaves when crushed in the hand stain the skin blood-red.

USES OF THE TEAK TREE –

   1) For the general uses teak is the finest timber in the world.

   2) This is due to its remarkable durability and working properties and to its being available in large quantities.

   3) It is not very hard nor very and once seasoned not liable to warp or shrink.

   4) Finally it contains no substances liable to corrode, iron and consequently is the main timber used for ships, railway carriages and similar proposes where timber and iron are in the contact.

   5) Compared with its value as a timber its other uses are unimportant.

   6) A tar can be extracted from the wood and is used medically.

   7) The leaves are used as one of the foods of the tasur silk worm, for umbrellas and for wrapping parcels.

HABITAT OF THE TEAK TREE –

It is find at –

   1) Peninsular India.

   2) Burma.

   3) Siam.

   4) Java.

        It is frequently planted in the frost-free parts of India and in parts where frost is light and does not occur every year.

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Ziziphus jujuba

 

THE BER TREE

Family – Rhamnaceae.

Scientific name – Ziziphus jujuba.

COMMON NAMES –

   1) Commonly known as Ber tree.

   2) In India it is known as the Indian Jujube.

   3) Ziziphus is from zizouf, the Arabic name for one of the species.

   4) Jujuba a latinised form of jujube, the name of the fruit.

GENERAL INFORMATION –

   1) A medium sized tree or large shrub easily recognised by the spines at the base of the leaf stalks.

   2) These spines are usually present especially on the lower branches and occur ill pairs, one being straight and the other curved.

   3) Leaves elliptical, rounded at each end, with 3 strong nerves, deep green above, white or buff coloured and velvety beneath.

   4) Flowers very small, green, the petals hooded over the stamens and more or less concealing them until the flowers is fully expanded.

Fruit of the Ber tree

The Ber tree

   5) In most plants the stamens when the same in number as the petals are placed inside the petals opposite the gaps between the latter.

   6) In this plants they are opposite to the base of the petals.

   7) The fruit of this plant is ovoid, varying in size and colour 0.5 – 1.5 inches long, with a tough thin skin, rather dry pulp and a bony stone.

   8) The ber is a variable plant, the cultivated forms are not quite the same in appearance as the wild ones and in addition there are other species of Ziziphus both wide and occasionally cultivated which resemble it in most respects.

   9) When grown for fruit it is often budded or grafted on to a wild stock and such trees are usually rather stunted with wide-spreading drooping branches.

USES OF THE BER TREE:

   1) The principal use of the ber is for its fruit of which there are rainy varieties.

   2) The fruits of the wild ber are used mainly for sherbet.

   3) The bark and many other parts of the tree are used medicinally.

   4) The kernels of the stones are eaten.

   5) The branches are used for fencing fields.

   6) Lac is sometimes cultivated on the ber and it is a food for tasar and  silk-worms.

   7) The timber is hard and tough and is used for agricultural implements.

HABITAT OF THE BER TREE:

   1) Throughout India in the dry but not arid regions.

   2) It is found at Burma and Indo-China.  

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ALBIZZIA LEBBEK

 ALBIZZIA LEBBEK

Family – Fabaceae

Scientific name – Albizzia lebbek

COMMON NAMES –

   1) It is known as the Siris.

   2) Albizzia is so named in honour of Albizzi, an Italian naturalist of the 18th century.

   3) Lebbek the name in Egypt where it is much used as a roadside tree.

   4) Another American name is Woman’s Tongue also referring to the sound of the pods in the wind.

GENERAL INFORMATION –

   1) The medium sized to large deciduous tree with dark grey rough bark.

   2) Leaves compound, the main stalk as a rule with a large gland about an inch from the base.

   3) The rachis does not bear leaflets direct but usually 2-3 pairs of lateral axes on which 3-9 pairs of asymmetrical leaflets are borne.

Flowers of the siris

The siris tree

   4) Flowers very fragrant, pale greenish-yellow, in heads on stalks 2-4 inches long.

   5) The only conspicuous part of the flower is the long silky stamens.

   6) Pods 6-12 inches long, 1-2 inches broad, thin, straw-coloured when ripe.

   7) This tree is best recognized by its large pods which are freely produced and remain long on the tree, being specially conspicuous in the hot weather when the tree is more or less leaflets.

USES OF THE ALBIZZIA LEBBEK –

   1) The siris is planted almost throughout India as a roadside tree as it is a hardy, easily raised from seed and grows rapidly.

   2) It has an excellent habit for a roadside tree but is leafless during the hot weather.

   3) Moreover it is a relatively short lived tree.

   4) Old specimens are frequently much disfigured by dead stumps of large branches badly infested with wood-boring insects which eventually lead to the destruction of the tree.

   5) The timber of the siris is exported to Europe from the Andaman’s as koko or East Indian Walnut and is used for furniture but in most parts of India the wood of the sins is not appreciated.

   6) The sapwood is broad and very subject to attack by insects.

   7) The heartwood is dark brown with lighter and darker streaks, it polishes and works well.

   8) It is used for cane-crushers, oil-presses and parts of wheels.

HABITAT –

   1) The siris has been so much planted and spread by cultivation that its original habitat is not now known.

   2) It is found almost throughout India.

   3) To the west of India it is found through Arabia and Egypt to Senegal as a planted tree.

   4) It is planted also in China and Indo-China.

   5) In tropical America it has long been cultivated and is locally known as fry wood owing to the incessant rattle of the pods  in the wind making a sound like that of frying fish.

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Terminalia Bellerica

  TERMINALIA BELLERICA

Family – Combretaceae

Scientific name – Terminalia bellirica

COMMON NAMES:

1. In Hindi it is known as Bahera
2. Belerica is from the Arabic name for the fruit balirij corrupted by the writers and finally latinized.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

1. It is a large deciduous tree reaching height upto 120 feet and 10 feet in girth.
2. The bark of this tree is grey and cracked longitudinally.
3. Leaves of these trees are clustered near the ends of the branches, large and leathery, on stalks 1-4 inches long.
4. Flowers greenish yllow on axes 3-6 inches long amongst the leaves.
5. Fruit 1 inch long, grey-velvety, pulp rather dry containing a hard thick-shelled stone.

1. Leafless from November to April in dry places or only in February, March in moist situations.
2. Flowers April to June, the flowers having a very strong honey-like scent which is pleasant when faint but overpowering to most people when near at hand.
3. The fruit varies in shape from nearly globular to ovoid or pear-shaped.

USES OF THE TERMINALIA BELLERICA:

1. The fruit is used medicinally being the Belleric myrabolan of commerce.
2. It is also used as inferior dyeing and tanning material and in making ink.
3. The kernel of the stones is edible and yields an oil used for the hair.
4. The timber is yellowish-brown, coarse grained and not durable being very subject to insect attack and in consequence it is little used.
5. The bahera grows on poor soil and in places when most trees are stunted and the choice of suitable tree is small.
6. For such condition the bahera is valuable as a shade tree.

PROPAGATION OF THE TERMINALIA BELLERICA:

1. It is possible by seed.
2. The whole fruit may be sown and if kept watered the seedlings should appear in one to two months.
3. Seedlings may be transplanted during second rainy season.
4. The rate of growth is fairly fast.

HABITAT:

• Throughout Indian and Burma excluding the arid region.
• Common except in the moistest tracts.

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