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Magnoliopsida
Terminalia catappa L.
EOL Text
Trees to 20 m tall; trunk to 2 m d.b.h. Bark brownish black, longitudinally peeling. Branches spreading, forming tiers. Branchlets densely brownish yellow tomentose near apex, densely covered with conspicuous leaf scars. Leaves alternate, crowded into pseudowhorls at apices of branchlets; petiole 0.5-2 cm, stout, tomentose; leaf blade obovate to oblanceolate, narrowed in proximal half, 12-30 × 8-15 cm, both surfaces glabrous or abaxially sparsely softly hairy when young, base narrow, cordate or truncate, apex obtuse or mucronate; lateral veins in 10-12 pairs. Inflorescences axillary, simple, long, slender spikes, 15-20 cm, numerous flowered; axis shortly white tomentose. Flowers fragrant. Calyx tube distally cupular, 7-8 mm, abaxially white tomentose, densely so on ovary, sparsely so on cupular part, adaxially glabrous; lobes 5. Stamens 10, exserted, 2-3 mm. Fruit not stipitate, red or blackish green when ripe, ellipsoid, slightly to strongly compressed, strongly 2-ridged to narrowly 2-winged (wings to 3 mm wide), 3-5.5 × 2-3.5 cm, glabrous; pericarp woody, rigid. Fl. Mar-Jun, Oct, fr. May, Jul-Sep.
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Major Threats
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Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/32962 |
A large deciduous tree, up to 35 m tall with brownish dotted bark. Young branches rusty pubescent becoming glabrous with age. Leaves crowded at the end of branches in spiral form, glabrous and shining above, velvety hairy below, obovate, shortly acuminate or mucronate with a cordate base, 5.5-35 x 5-18 cm, petiole densly hairy, 5-15 mm long with 2 glands on either side at the apex. Spikes axillary, 6-16 cm long with hairy rachis. Upper flowers of the spike male, lower bisexual, whitish yellow; bract c. 1 mm long, caducous. hypanthium 3-7 mm long scarious or glabrous, calyx lobes triangular, 1-2 mm long, glabrous. Stamens 2-2.5 mm ong, situated on the calyx. Style elongated, up to 2 mm long. Discbarbate. Drupe ovoid, glabrous more or less laterally compressed, wings almost obscure, 3.5 x 2-5.5 cm.
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Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200014746 |
Root: Root-bark is astringent; decoction used for dysentery, diarrhoea, intestinal catarrh and to treat bleeding. Stem: Stem-bark used for bilious fevers. Leaf: Macerated in palm oil and applied to abscessed tonsils. Leaves are mixed with guava root-bark in a preparation to remedy dysentery.
1000 m
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Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200014746 |
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Terminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, that grows mainly in the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Australia.[2] It is known by the common names Bengal almond,[citation needed] country almond,[3] Indian almond,[3] Malabar almond,[3] sea almond,[3] and tropical almond.[3]
Contents
Vernacular names[edit]
It is known as miich (Palauan), Singapore almond, Louze (Bahraini), Bedan بيدان (Yemeni), ketapang (Malay and Indonesian), ebelebo (Nigerian), Malabar almond, Indian almond, tropical almond, sea almond, beach almond, Talisay (Filipino), Kottamba (Sinhalese), abrofo nkatie (Ghana), tavola (Fiji), castanhola (northeastern Brazil), zanmande (creole), Tallitenga (തല്ലി തേങ്ങ) (Malayalam), Badam (Telugu), kotōl (Marshallese: [kʷo͡ɤdˠʌ͡ɛlʲ]),[4]khungu (Swahili), 'Daem Chat' (khmer), talis (Tok Pisin), midhili (Maldives), and mandlovník mořský or vrcholák pravý (Czech), 吉打邦 (Chinese)[citation needed]
Description[edit]
The tree grows to 35 m (115 ft) tall, with an upright, symmetrical crown and horizontal branches. Terminalia catappa has corky, light fruit that are dispersed by water. The seed within the fruit is edible when fully ripe, tasting almost like almond. As the tree gets older, its crown becomes more flattened to form a spreading, vase shape. Its branches are distinctively arranged in tiers. The leaves are large, 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in) long and 10–14 cm (3.9–5.5 in) broad, ovoid, glossy dark green, and leathery. They are dry-season deciduous; before falling, they turn pinkish-reddish or yellow-brown, due to pigments such as violaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
The trees are monoecious, with distinct male and female flowers on the same tree. Both are 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter, white to greenish, inconspicuous with no petals; they are produced on axillary or terminal spikes. The fruit is a drupe 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) long and 3–5.5 cm (1.2–2.2 in) broad, green at first, then yellow and finally red when ripe, containing a single seed.
Habitat and range[edit]
The tree has been spread widely by humans, so the native range is uncertain. It has long been naturalised in a broad belt extending from Africa to northern Australia and New Guinea through Southeast Asia and Micronesia into the Indian Subcontinent. More recently, the plant has been introduced to parts of the Americas. Until the mid 20th century, the tree has been extensively used in Brazilian urban landscaping, since being a rare case tropical deciduous, their fallen leaves would give an "European" flair to the street. This practice is currently abolished, and the "amendoeiras" are being replaced by native, evergreen trees.
Cultivation and uses[edit]
T. catappa is widely grown in tropical regions of the world as an ornamental tree, grown for the deep shade its large leaves provide. The fruit is edible, tasting slightly acidic.
The wood is red and solid, and has high water resistance; it has been used in Polynesia for making canoes. In Tamil, almond is known nattuvadumai.
The leaves contain several flavonoids (such as kaempferol or quercetin), several tannins (such as punicalin, punicalagin or tercatin), saponines and phytosterols. Due to this chemical richness, the leaves (and the bark) are used in different herbal medicines for various purposes. For instance in Taiwan, fallen leaves are used as an herb to treat liver diseases. In Suriname, an herbal tea made from the leaves is prescribed against dysentery and diarrhea. The leaves may contain agents for prevention of cancers (although they have no demonstrated anticarcinogenic properties) and antioxidants, as well as anticlastogenic characteristics. Extracts of T. catappa have shown activity against Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine (CQ)-resistant (FcB1) and CQ-sensitive (HB3) strains.[5]
Keeping the leaves in an aquarium may lower the pH and heavy metal content of the water.[citation needed] It has been used in this way by fish breeders for many years, and is active against some parasites and bacterial pathogens.[6] It is also believed to help prevent fungus forming on the eggs of the fish.[citation needed]
Gallery[edit]
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Trunk in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
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References[edit]
- ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
- ^ Pankaj Oudhia, Robert E. Paull. West Indian Almond Terminalia catappa L. Combretaceae p273-276.Encyclopedia of Fruit and Nuts - 2008, J. Janick and R. E. Paull -editors, CABI, Wallingford, United Kingdom
- ^ a b c d e "USDA GRIN Taxonomy".
- ^ Marshallese-English Dictionary
- ^ Hnawia E, Hassani L, Deharo E, Maurel S, Waikedre J, Cabalion P, Bourdy G, Valentin A, Jullian V, Fogliani B.,"Antiplasmodial activity of New Caledonia and Vanuatu traditional medicines". Pharm Biol. 2011 Apr;49(4):369-76
- ^ C. Chitmanat, K. Tongdonmuan, P. Khanom, P. Pachontis, and W. Nunsong (2005). "Antiparasitic, antibacterial, and antifungal activities derived from a Terminalia catappa solution against some Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) pathogens". Acta Horticulturae 678. pp. 179–182.
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Habit: Tree
Terminalia latifolia is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is found in Guatemala and Jamaica.
Source[edit]
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Terminalia latifolia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 August 2007.
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Habit: Tree
Terminalia intermedia is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is endemic to Cuba. It is threatened by habitat loss.
References[edit]
- Areces-Mallea, A.E. 1998. Terminalia intermedia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 August 2007.
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