93-TERMINALIA CATTAPA
Local names: Desi badam, Almond
Family: Combretaceae
Location: Boys hostel, Management building
Characters: The tree grows to 35 metres tall, with an upright, symmetrical crown and horizontal branches. The fruit are corky and light, and dispersed by water. 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 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 trees are monoecious, with distinct male and female flowers on the same tree. Both are 1 cm 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 long and 3–5.5 cm broad, green at first, then yellow and finally red when ripe, containing a single seed. Pollen grains measure about 30 microns.
General use: Seed can be chopped and added to cookies, bread mixes, dessert fillings, sweets, soups and stews. The seed contains about 50% oil & rich source of zinc. Rather similar to almond oil, but less prone to become rancid. The fruits have a tender skin and a thin layer of subacid juicy flesh. The leaves, crushed with Dacrydium elatum and rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus, are combined to treat dysentery. The red leaves act as a vermifuge, while the sap of young leaves, cooked with oil from the kernel, is used to treat leprosy. The juice of the leaves is ingested for coughs. An infusion of the leaves is used to treat jaundice. The leaves are used to treat indigestion. The young leaves are used to cure headaches and colic. Externally, the leaves may be rubbed on breasts to cure pain or, when heated, may be applied to numb parts of the body. They may be used as a dressing for swollen rheumatic joints. The bark and root bark are useful for bilious fever, diarrhoea, thrush, and as a remedy for sores and abscesses. The fluid from the bark is used to treat diabetes and as a tonic. An infusion of the bark is used to treat stomach ache and also as an emetic for infants. Externally, the bark is used to treat sores, pimples and fungal skin diseases. The kernel of the fruit mixed with beeswax stops putrid exudation and bloody faeces.