Record Number
4699
PROSEA Handbook Number
5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers
Taxon
Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn.
This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Terminalia in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.
This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Terminalia in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.
Protologue
Prodr. fl. Ind. orient.: 314 (1834).
Synonyms
Pentaptera arjuna Roxb. ex DC. (1828).
Vernacular Names
Arjun (En, India). Thailand: rokfa-khao (central).
Distribution
Native to India but introduced and frequently planted as an ornamental and roadside tree in Thailand; also planted in plantation trials in Indonesia.
Uses
Terminalia arjuna is an important source of timber in India and has potential elsewhere in the South-East Asian region; the wood is used as terminalia for the construction of carts and boats, for general construction, agricultural implements and mine props. The transparent gum is used as a drug in India. The bark is used medicinally as a tonic. The tree is also planted for shade and as an ornamental.
Observations
A fairly large tree up to 40 m tall, bole with buttresses, bark surface smooth, flaking off in large thin layers, pale whitish-grey; leaves oblong to ovate-oblong, 8—15 cm 4.5—9 cm, usually obliquely subcordate at base, glabrescent, with 15—25 pairs of secondary veins, petiole 0.5—1.5 cm long; flowers in an axillary or terminal panicle 2.5—6 cm long, calyx tube glabrous outside; fruit broadly ellipsoid, truncate at the top, 3.5—5 cm 2.5—3.2 cm, glabrous, with 5 leathery wings. Terminalia arjuna is common along rivers and streams in central India.
Selected Sources
[28]Athaya, C.D., 1985. Ecological studies of some forest tree seeds II. Seed storage and viability. Indian Journal of Forestry 8(2): 137–140.
[392]Magini, E. & Tulstrup, N.P., 1955. Tree seed notes. I. Arid Areas II. Humid Tropics. FAO Forestry Development Paper 5. FAO, Rome. 354 pp.
[449]Nanakorn, W., 1985. The genus Terminalia (Combretaceae) in Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 15: 59–107.
[574]Smitinand, T., 1980. Thai plant names. Royal Forest Department, Bangkok. 379 pp.
[648]Troup, R.S., 1921. Silviculture of Indian trees. 3 volumes. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
[666]van Vliet, G.J.C.M., 1979. Wood anatomy of the Combretaceae. Blumea 25: 141–223.
[392]Magini, E. & Tulstrup, N.P., 1955. Tree seed notes. I. Arid Areas II. Humid Tropics. FAO Forestry Development Paper 5. FAO, Rome. 354 pp.
[449]Nanakorn, W., 1985. The genus Terminalia (Combretaceae) in Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 15: 59–107.
[574]Smitinand, T., 1980. Thai plant names. Royal Forest Department, Bangkok. 379 pp.
[648]Troup, R.S., 1921. Silviculture of Indian trees. 3 volumes. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
[666]van Vliet, G.J.C.M., 1979. Wood anatomy of the Combretaceae. Blumea 25: 141–223.
Author(s)
M.S.M. Sosef
Correct Citation of this Article
Sosef, M.S.M., 1995. Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Soerianegara, I. and Wong, W.C. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea
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