Schleichera | |
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Young leaves | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Sapindaceae |
Subfamily: | Sapindoideae |
Genus: | Schleichera Lour. |
Species: | S. oleosa |
Binomial name | |
Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Schleichera trijugaWilld. |
Schleichera is a monotypic genus of plants in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. There is only one species, Schleichera oleosa, a tree that occurs in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. [3]
Schleichera oleosa, kusum tree, Ceylon oak, [4] lac tree, [5] gum lac tree. It is a large deciduous (nearly evergreen) tree with a comparatively short fluted trunk and a shade spreading crown. It is frost and drought hardy and is subject to damage by grazing. It produces root-suckers freely, and it has good cropping power. The wood is very hard and reddish brown. [6] This tree is noted for its growth of new leaves that are bright red. In India the growth of these bright red leaves happens around March.
The leaves are pinnate, with each leaf having 2-4 leaflets. The tree is host to Kusumi Lac (Kerria lacca), a lac insect which is native to India. Its seeds are the source of Kusum oil.
Flowers: The flowers are tiny and hardly noticeable, occurring in short dense yellow clusters.
Fruit: The fruit is 2.5 to 3 cm long - roughly the size of a small plum - and ovoid, 1-3 celled, and more or less abruptly tapering to a point, dry indehiscent.
Seed: The seed is 1.5 cm long, smooth, brown, and enclosed in a succulent aril which has an acidic taste, and contains 25-38% oil and up to 22% protein. It is irregular or ellipsoidal in shape, slightly compressed, and has a thick brown seed coat on its surface. The moisture in the dried seed should be maintained around 4-6%. [7]
Kernel: The kernel is 16-20% of the dried fruit and 60-64% of the seed. It is 51-52% oil. The kernel is susceptible to fungal attack.
This tree grows naturally from the foothills of the Himalayas and the western Deccan Plateau, east to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. It grows in Bihar, Central and Southern parts of India. The tree occurs sporadically, seldom gregariously in dry, mixed deciduous forests. It grows in rocky, gravelly, or loamy, slightly acidic soil that is well drained. It is occasionally found in swampy locations, but it usually grows on rather dry soil, at low altitudes, but can be found at 900–1200 meters. [8] The requirement of normal rain fall is 750–2800 mm. and ambient temperature of 35-47.5 °C.
In Thailand this tree is known as takhro (Thai : ตะคร้อ) or as kho (Thai : ค้อ), the latter being a name that it shares with Livistona speciosa , a kind of palm tree. [9] The German-Dutch botanist Georg Eberhard Rumphius, who lived for 45 years in Ambon, called this tree Cussambium. [10]
In India it is mostly known as Kusum (कुसुम) and was one of the main trees of undisturbed forests in Madhya Pradesh and the Deccan Plateau. [11] In Sri Lanka it is known as koan (කෝන්).
The tree is a host of the lac bug Kerria lacca , whose female secretes a resin known as shellac to form a tunnel-like tube as it traverses the branches of the tree. A variety of trees are able to host the insect, but the resin produced on the Schleichera tree is least colored.
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Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is Kerria lacca.
Tamarind is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae.
The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee.
Triadica sebifera is a tree native to eastern China. It is commonly called Chinese tallow, Chinese tallowtree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree, or candleberry tree.
Ziziphus is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world. The leaves are alternate, entire, with three prominent basal veins, and 2–7 cm (0.79–2.76 in) long; some species are deciduous, others evergreen. The flowers are small, inconspicuous yellow-green. The fruit is an edible drupe, yellow-brown, red, or black, globose or oblong, 1–5 cm (0.39–1.97 in) long, often very sweet and sugary, reminiscent of a date in texture and flavour.
Coleus amboinicus, synonym Plectranthus amboinicus, is a semi-succulent perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae with a pungent oregano-like flavor and odor. Coleus amboinicus is considered to be native to parts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India, although it is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere in the tropics where it is used as a spice and ornamental plant. Common names in English include Indian borage, country borage, French thyme, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano, soup mint, Spanish thyme. The species epithet, amboinicus refers to Ambon Island, in Indonesia, where it was apparently encountered and described by João de Loureiro (1717–1791).
The curry tree, Murraya koenigii or Bergera koenigii, is a tropical and sub-tropical tree in the family Rutaceae, native to Asia. The plant is also sometimes called sweet neem, though M. koenigii is in a different family to neem, Azadirachta indica, which is in the related family Meliaceae.
Rauvolfia is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, commonly known as devil peppers, in the family Apocynaceae. The genus is named to honor Leonhard Rauwolf. The genus can mainly be found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and various oceanic islands.
Pterospermum is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Its species are tropical trees that range from southern China across tropical Asia.
Canarium ovatum, the pili, is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. C. ovatum are native to the Philippines. They are commercially cultivated in the Philippines for their edible nuts and is believed to be indigenous to that country. The fruit and tree are often vulgarized with the umbrella term of "Java almond" which mixes multiple species of the same genus, Canarium.
Moringa oleifera is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree of the family Moringaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent. Common names include moringa, drumstick tree, horseradish tree, and ben oil tree or benzolive tree.
Mango oil, mango kernel fat, or mango butter, is an oil fraction obtained during the processing of mango butter. Mango oil is a seed oil extracted from the stone of the mango, the fruit of the Mangifera indica tree. The oil is semi-solid at room temperatures, but melts on contact with warm skin, making it appealing for baby creams, suncare balms, hair products, and other moisturizing products. The oil is a soft yellow color with a melting point of 32–42 °C (90–108 °F).
Pithecellobium dulce, commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, monkeypod tree or camachile, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is also sometimes known as monkeypod, but that name is also used for several other plants, including Samanea saman. It is an introduced species and extensively naturalized in the Caribbean and Florida, as well as the Philippines and Guam via the Manila galleons. It has also been introduced to Thailand and South Asia, It is considered an invasive species in Hawaii.
Albizia lebbeck is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar. It is widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. Common names in English include siris, Indian siris, East Indian walnut, Broome raintree, lebbeck, lebbek tree, frywood, koko and woman's tongue tree. The latter name is a play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Siris is also a common name of the genus Albizia.
Kerria lacca is a species of insect in the family Kerriidae, the lac insects. These are in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. This species is perhaps the most commercially important lac insect, being a main source of lac, a resin which can be refined into shellac and other products. This insect is native to Asia.
Kusum oil is a type of oil extracted from the seed of the Kusum tree. The plant, which is also commonly known as Ceylon oak, lac tree, or Macassar oiltree, belongs to the family Sapindaceae. The sapindaceae family is named after J. C. Schleicher, a Swiss botanist, and the species name means "oily" or "rich in oil." The tree is native to South Asia, but is also found in some parts of Southeast Asia.
Vateria indica oil is extracted from the seeds of the Vateria indica plant, a species in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The Vateria indica plant is indigenous to the Western Ghats, Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions of India. It thrives in the evergreen forests, surviving up to 800 meters above sea level. Oil from the seeds of the plant is extracted through a chemical refining process which makes the plant edible.
Phulwara oil is extracted from seeds of Phulwara tree. Phulwara Trees are also known locally as Chiuri Trees, Kaeleb Trees, or Butter Nut Trees. Refined Phulwara Oil is marketed as Phulwara Ghee.
The Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, formerly known as the Indian Lac Research Institute, is an autonomous institute, established under the umbrella of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India for advanced research on lac and other natural resins and gums. The Institute is located at Namkum, Ranchi in Jharkhand, India.
Triadica cochinchinensis is a species of tree known as the mountain tallow tree.