Common name: Flowering Murdah • Marathi: Kindal, Kinjal • Tamil: பூமருது Pumarutu, Vadamarudu • Malayalam: Pullamaruthu, Pumarutu • Telugu: Putanallamanu • Kannada: Ulabe, Honagalu • Konkani: Quinzol • Sanskrit: Asvakarnah
Botanical name: Terminalia paniculata Family: Combretaceae (Rangoon creeper family)
Synonyms: Pentaptera paniculata
Flowering Murdah is a tropical tree with a large natural
distribution in Western Ghats. The tree has diverging branches. Leaves are
nearly opposite, linear-oblong, heart-shaped at the base, sharp at the tip.
Flowers occur in spiked forming a compound panicle. Fruit has one large and
two small wings. It is the fruits, rather than the flowers, which make the
tree more colorful. The tree is extensively utilized in pharmaceutical, timber
tannin, leather and silk industries. It is a tall tree. Timber very useful
for ship building & is used as substitute for teak. Fruits are used for
tanning & dyeing. In winter, the tree may be partially leafless.
Flowering: November-January.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale
| Photographed in Mahad, Maharashtra. |
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