Shorea robusta - INDIAN FORESTRY

Sal tree {Shorea robusta}

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Dipterocarpaceae
Genus:	Shorea
Species:	S. robusta

Description

The forest of sal trees is very dense . In wetter areas, it is evergreen; in drier areas, it is dry-season deciduous, shedding most of the leaves in between February to April, leafing out again in April and May.In India, It is found in Assam, orrisa, jharkhand, chhattisgarh also on hilly Ranges such as himalayas etc. Sal tree is also known as Sakhua in northern India including MP, Orrisa and Jharkhand.And also for GK, it is the State tree of Chhattisgarh.

Characterstics

LEAF:-

• The leaves are 10–25 cm long and 5–15 cm broad. 
• Shedding most of the leaves in between February to April.
• Leafing out again in April and May. 

BARK:-

• Sal is moderate to slow growing, and can attain heights of 30 to 35 m and a trunk diameter of up to 2-2.5 m.
• it is hard, coarse-grained wood that is light in colour when freshly cut, but becomes dark brown with exposure.
• All bark of sal trees look like damage thing, dig out ,rough surface.
• By seeing bark of this tree we can easily found that it is of sal tree.

Uses:-

• It is a important source for hardwood timber.
• The wood is resinous and durable and also popular,desired for construction.
• The wood of sal is suitable for construction such as doors, windows, furnitures.
• The dry leaves of sal are a major source for the production of leaf plates called as patravali and leaf bowls in northern and eastern India.
• Sal tree resin, ṛla in Sanskrit, is used as an astringent in AYURVEDIC MEDICINE.
• After refining of seed oil of sal seeds , it is used as cooking oil.

by

    Alok gupta

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - Description, Medicinal and Ethnobotanical Uses : INDIAN FORESTRY

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

     
   

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Hibiscus
Species:	H. rosa-sinensis

• It is also known as china rose, Chinese hibiscus.
• It belongs to Hibisceae tribe of the family Malvaceae, it is sp. Of tropical hibiscus .
• It is a flowering plant, which is native to East Asia.
• The latin term rosa-sinensis literally means rose of china.
• Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia, called Bunga Raya in Malay.
• In Malay Bunga means "Flower" and Raya means "Celebratory" or "Grand".
• It is cultivated as ornamental shrubs.

 Description:-

• It is bushy, evergreen plant height up to 2.5-5 m & 1.5-3 m wide approx.

• Leaves of this plant is glossy & solitary.

                        

                   

• 5 petaled  flower are 10 cm in diameter with prominent orange-tipped red anther.

• Bark

   

Nomenclature:-

It has several names in different languages

• Marathi - जास्वंद
• Bangla - Jaba (জবা)
• Tamil - sembaruthi (செம்பருத்தி)
• Hindi - गुड़हल, गुड़हर, अड़हुल, जपा,जवा कुसुम
• Malayalam - cemparatti (ചെമ്പരത്തി)
• Oriya - Mandara
• Sinhala - Wada Mala (වද මල) / Sapaththu mala ( සපත්තු මල)
• Telugu - Mamdaram (మందారం)
• Indonesian - Kembang Sepatu
• Filipino - Gumamela
• Myanmar - Khaung-Yann 
• Punjabi - Salu

Uses:-

• When the flower of this plant is crushed and add with coconut oil and massage in hair, it helps in hair growth.
• Crushed mucilaginous petals of this flower is also used to treat skin sore between  the toes due to water borne fungus.
• Flower as well as roots are edible and flower is used as salad in pacific island.
• It is also used to shine the shoes in some parts of India.
• The flower of this plant is also used as pH indicator, it turns the acidic sol to dark pink and basic solution to green.
• In Chinese herbology, flower extract function as an antisolar agent by absorbing Ultra violet rays (UV rays).
• It also helps in inducing "ABORTION" , provide treatment of headache.
• Flower is also used in food colouring.
• The leaves are emollient (soothing nature) used to softens the skin.
• The leaves and flowers are beaten into a paste and poulticed onto cancerous swellings and mumps.

Ethnobotanical Use

The petals are crushed and used orally for the treatment of diarrhoea by the tribal communities of India.

Aloe vera - Medicinal Uses,Classification,Description (ALL THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!) : Indian Forestry

Aloe vera

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Xanthorrhoeaceae
Subfamily:	Asphodeloideae
Genus:	Aloe
Species:	A. vera

In the past , it has been assigned to the family Aloaceaw (now included in the Xanthorrhoeaceae) or to a broadly circumscribed family Liliaceace( the lilly family). It is the main source of of DRUG aloe. There are 275 sp. in which 3 sp. are important for commercially purpose that are 

• A. barbadensis :-it yields Curacao aloe or Indian aloe or jaffarabad aloe or Barbadose aloe. Mostly produced in West Indies. 
• A. ferox :- it is hybrid  and yields cap aloe. mostly produced in South Africa.
• A. perryi :- it yields socotrine aloe.  

When we cut the leaf from base and letting the yellow bitter juice from where the water is evaporated and we get light to dark bitter juice and that juice is Drug aloe. It is present in specialised cells beneath , the thick epidermis yields Drug aloe and the paranchymatous tissue in the center of the leaf contains a mucilaginous gel which yields gel Aloe or aloe vera gel ,it is currently obtained from the sp. A. barbadensis.

Origin and distribution:-

• It belongs to the old world and native to the eastern and southern Africa , the canary island & Spain.
• It spread to the Mediterranean basin. And in 16th century it reached to the India , West Indies , China and other countries.
• At present, it is also cultivated by the farmers for commercial purpose in some parts of south Africa
• It also cultivated throughout India. 

Description:-

• It is stemless or very short - stemmed succulent plant growing to 60-100 cm (24-39 in) tall, spreading by offset (produce a tuft of leaves).
• The leaves as thick and fleshy, green to grey green with some varieties show white flocks on the their upper and lower stem.
• The margin of the leaves are serrated and having small white teeth.
• Flower produced in summer.
• Aloe vera forms arbuscular mycorrhiza , a symbiosis that allows the plant better access to mineral nutrient  in the soil.

NOTE:- Normally, the plant is not Affected by any disease of a serious nature. But recently , the leaf spot disease caused by Altarnaria alternata and Fusarium solani has been reported from India.

USES:-

• Fresh aloe gel is well known for it domestic medicinal value.
• Aloe vera is also called burn,first aid or medicinal value.
• When freshly obtained, gel has the property of relieving thermal burns and sunburns as well as promoting wound healing.
• It also used as home remedy due to having moisturising and emollient (soothing ointment) properties. It has beneficial effect on the skin.

Mallotus philippensis (Kamala Tree) : Medicinal Uses,Constituents and Morphology - Indian Forestry.

Mallotus philippensis

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily:	Acalyphoideae
Tribe:	Acalypheae
Genus:	Mallotus
Species:	M. philippensis

Mallotus philippensis COMMON NAMES Commonly known as रोहिनी Rohini, रैनी Raini, रोहन Rohan, सिन्धुरी Sinduri, कामला Kamala, , In HINDI. And Kamala Tree in English.  LEAF  1. Leaf is Simple. 2. Alternate. 3.Glabbrous from above. 4. It is swollen at the base. 5. Margin is Entire, or Sparsely serrated. 6. Apex is ACUTE. 7. Base is Round. Mallotus philippensis is a Dioecious tree, hence male and female flowers grows on seperate trees. FRUIT  It's a Tri-lobed capsule,One small black globular seed in each of the three parts of the capsule, seeds 2 to 3 mm in diameter.  CONSTITUENTS Rottlerin, yellow and red resins, wax, and a yellow crystalline substance, tannic acid, gum, and volatile oil. MEDICINAL USES  1. The capsules are a chief source for the extraction of orange dye (Kamela).  2.The root of the tree is used in dyeing, and for cutaneous eruptions. 3. The wood is used as fuel. By Ashutosh Lohani . Photo Credits - Alok Gupta.

Erythrina stricta var. suberosa (Indian Coral Tree , Corky coral tree ) - Description, Morphology and Uses.

Erythrina stricta var. suberosa

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:

Plantae

(unranked):

Angiosperms

(unranked):

Eudicots

(unranked):

Rosids

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Fabaceae

Subfamily:

Faboideae

Tribe:

Phaseoleae

Genus:

Erythrina

 SPLITTING THE WORDS

er-ith-RY-nuh -- meaning, red colored
STRIK-tuh -- meaning, erect, upright
sub-er-OH-suh -- meaning, cork bark

 

 

 

 

 COMMON NAMES

English : Corky Coral Tree, Indian Coral Tree • Hindi: धौल ढाक Dhaul dhak • Marathi: पांगारा Pangara • Tamil: கிஞ்சுகம் Kincukam, முருக்கு மரம் murukku maram • Malayalam: Nimbataru, Paribhadram • Telugu: బలభద్రిక Balabhadrika • Kannada: Halivana, Keechige, Mandara • Bengali: রক্তমন্দার Raktamandar • Konkani: Pangar • Sanskrit: मन्दार mandara, पारिभद्र paribhadra • Nepali: फलेदो Phaledo 

DESCRIPTION

1. The tree has a distinctl orange, corky bark and the tree is generally medium-sized.  

2. The leaves are COMPOUND.

3. Crown of the tree is irregular.

4. Flowers are bright red, and attention-catching.

5. Flowers are comprised of 5 petals.

6. Stamens are 10.

7. It's bark contains thorns.  

Erythrina stricta var. suberosa   

Or

Corky Coral tree is usually seen in dry and mixed forest all over the sub-continent.

USES

Its stakes are used as fencing posts around tea gardens . 

Mostly stakes grow into trees if used without delay after cutting from green trees .

 

By - Ashutosh Lohani.

Catharanthus roseus (Sadabahar) :Flower,Morphology and Uses - INDIAN FORESTRY

Sadabahar (Catharanthus roseus)

Catharanthus roseus flower

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Genus:	Catharanthus
Species:	C. roseus

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle or rosy periwinkle, is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar.In india it is known as Sadabahar in hindi , Madanah in sanskrit.

Sadaabahaar

Description

It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing 1 m tall.It grows as a weed as well cultivated. It grows on sandy loam soil. In this plant 100 alkaloids have been reported. It has unique alkoloids Vincristine and Vinblastine which makes it special from other plants.It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world.As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5 °C to 7 °C, and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens.

In the wild, due to Slash and burn agriculture its habitat is affected and now this plant is considered as Endangered plant. 

Distribution

It is ditributed in India, China, Indonesia, Isreal, Madagascar, Phillipines, South Africa, USA, Austrailia, It is so well adapted to growth in Australia, that it is listed as a noxious weed in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territor.

Morphology

Leaves :-

The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm long; they are arranged in opposite pairs.

Leaf of Catharanthus roseus

Leaf

Flower :-

The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes.

Bark :-

Fruit :-

The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad.

Propagation

Stem, root are used for propagation.

In stem cutting 9 nodes are must than we used it as a propagation.

20-25 ppm of auxin should be present.

Uses:-

• It is cultivated as herbal medicine and known to be ornamental plant.
• In traditional Chinese, they also used it as treatment of diabetes, malaria.
• From this plant Two allkaloids are extracted i.e. VINCRISTINE and VINBLASTINE which is used for the treatment of ofleukemia and Hodgkini lymphoma.
• C. roseus is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas.This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas.

NOTE;- C. roseus ca be extremely toxic if humans consumed orally