Terminalia catappa
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| Terminalia catappa L. |
Terminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the Family Combretaceae. The tree's origin is controversial, and could have been India, Malay peninsula, or New Guinea. Common names include Indian almond, Bengal almond, Singapore almond , Malabar almond, Tropical almond, Sea almond, and Umbrella tree.
It grows to 35 m tall, with an upright, symmetrical crown and horizontal branches. As the tree gets older, its crown becomes more flattened to form a spreading, vase shape. The leaves are large, 15-25 cm long and 10-14 cm 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 flowers are monoecious, with distinct male and female flowers on the same tree. Both are 1 cm diameter, white to greenish, inconspicuous with no petals; they are produced on axillary or terminal spikes. The fruit is a drupe 5-7 cm long and 3-5.5 cm broad, green at first, then yellow and finally red when ripe, containing a single seed.
[edit] Cultivation and uses
Terminalia 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, solid and has high water resistance; it has been utilized in Polynesia for making canoes.
The leaves contain several flavonoids (like kamferol or quercetin), several tannins (such as punicalin, punicalagin or tercatin), saponines and phytosterols. Due to this chemical richness, the leaves (and also the bark) are used in different traditional medicines for various purposes. For instances, in Taiwan fallen leaves are used as a herb to treat liver diseases. In Suriname, a tea made from the leaves is prescribed against dysentery and diarrhea. It is also thought that the leaves contain agents for prevention of cancers (although they have no demonstrated anticarcinogenic properties) and antioxidant as well as anticlastogenic characteristics.
