Terminalia macrocarpa Slooten

A medium-sized to fairly large deciduous tree up to 35 m tall, bole up to 200 cm in diameter, bark surface with deep vertical fissures and transverse cracks, dark grey to blackish, inner bark reddish. Leaves oblong to ovate-oblong, 7-20 cm x 4-10 cm, base obtuse, often oblique, apex rounded to acute, glabrous to tomentose, with 10-16 pairs of secondary veins, with a pair of stalked glands on the midrib near the base below, petiole 1-2 cm long. Flowers in an axillary or terminal spike 6-15 cm long, calyx tube pubescent. Fruit broadly ellipsoid, 4-6 cm x 2.5-5 cm, 5-winged, wings coriaceous, glabrous, 1-2 cm broad.

T. alata is found often on alluvial soils. For planting, T. alata requires moist soil conditions and deep, heavy, clayey soils.

T. alata is found in mixed deciduous forest, sometimes in dry dipterocarp forest.

It can be propagated by seed including direct sowing, by cuttings, grafting, and wildlings. For seed viability, the germination rate of T. alata is 5-50%. Pricking out should be carried out early enough to avoid disturbing the rapidly developing taproot. Large diameter stumps (3-4 cm) are recommended for T. alata.

Seed of T. alata can be stored under ambient conditions for 2 years. The number of fruits per kg is 330-550 fruits.

Fodder: The leaves are used as fodder in Nepal. Medicine: The bark is used medicinally against diarrhoea. Oxalic acid can be extracted from it. Tannin or dyestuff: The bark and especially the fruit yield pyrogallol and catechol to dye and tan leather. Timber: T. alata is a valuable and commercial source of timber and may have potential in other South-East Asian countries. The wood is used as terminalia e.g. for house building, furniture, tool handles, and for underwater purposes. When quarter-sawn, the wood yields attractive veneer.