Terminalia chebula Retz

Description :

This plant is a medium to large deciduous tree that grows up to 30m tall. The trunk is about 1m in diameter and is dark brown in colour. The leaves are sub-opposite, oval shaped, alternate to and 7-8cm long and 4-10cm wide with a 1-3cm long petiole, they have an acute tip, cordate at the base, margins entire, glabrous above with a yellowish pubescence below. The fruit is 2-5cm long and 1.5-3cm wide, blackish and drupe-like. The flowers are monoecious, whitish yellow in colour and have a strong and unpleasant smell. The Fruit is a drupe, and it is 3-4cm long and 2-3cm wide, hard, yellow to orange, brown in colour. The fruits have single angled stone.

Distribution :

It is native to China, but it can be found in s found throughout South and Southeast Asia including Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its habitat includes dry slopes of about 900m in altitude.

Uses :

Young or green fruits are used to make pickle. Seeds are eaten as a snack; they have a flavour reminiscent of almonds or filberts. Edible oil is obtained from the seed. This plant is a main ingredient in the production of medicines which is used for the treatment of liver and kidney problems. The fruit is used in the production of materials for tanning leather and dyeing clothes. The bark, leaves, as well as seeds are used for making different medicines. Crushed and used as a poultice to prevent excessive bleeding.

 

 

(Akbar, 2020; Bag et al., 2013)