East Indian Satinwood
Chloroxylon swietenia

Family: Rutaceae

What it is like

Chloroxylon swietenia or commonly known as East Indian Stainwood is a tropical, medium-sized deciduous tree native to southern India, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka. It grows up to 20 m in height. The leaves are pinnate, the bark is slightly corky and thick, the flowers are small, creamy white, and the fruits are oblong three-segmented capsules. Most plant parts are used in traditional medicine in India. Essential oil obtained from the leaves and stems have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Dried leaves can be used for pains while crushed leaves for the treatment of wounds, snakebites, and rheumatism. Leaves and roots can be made into paste then taken internally or applied externally as relieve from headache. The seed yields oil. The wood is heavy, hard, durable, and used as decorative timber and in heavy construction, agricultural equipment, boat building, and railway sleepers. It is, in addition, used as fuel wood.

Chloroxylon swietenia is a deciduous Tree growing to 18 m (59ft) by 18 m (59ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid and very alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 18

Where it is found

Dry deciduous forest on poor, well-drained sandy or rocky soils, at low to medium altitudes.

E. Asia - India, Sri Lanka.

Conservation Status: Chloroxylon swietenia (East Indian Satinwood)

Countries/locations it is found in

Coming Soon

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

The seeds contain 16% non-drying oil which is probably inedible. See medicinal uses below.

Oil: Oil

Medicine

Rating: 3

In India most plant parts are used in traditional medicine. Research has shown the presence of various medically active substances in the plant. Coumarins and quinolinone alkaloids have been identified in the stem bark. Coumarins, and alkaloid and 2,4-dihydroxy-5-prenycinnamic acid are found in the heartwood. An essential oil in the leaves contains the terpenes limonene, germacrene D, geijerene, pregeijerene, trans-_-ocimene and methyl eugenol. Both the leaf and the stem oils exhibit moderate to strong activities against a panel of bacteria and fungi. The essential oil from the leaves and stems, plus several isolated compounds, display significant mosquitocidal activity by fumigation against Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus, as well as activity against tobacco cutworm, Spodoptera litura. Methanol extracts of the dried leaves exhibit good analgesic activity. The crushed leaves are applied externally to treat wounds, snakebites and rheumatism. A paste of the leaves and roots is taken internally to treat headache and is applied to the forehead as a balm for the same purpose. The root bark in milk is drunk to treat impotence. A bark extract is considered astringent and taken to treat fever, chest pain and in a mixture with other plants to treat asthma. In friction it is used to treat bruises and painful joints.

Antiasthmatic: Treats asthma.

Antibacterial: Kills bacteria.

Antifungal: An agent that inhibits or destroys fungi. Used in the treatment of various fungal problems such as candida.

Antirheumatic: Treats rheumatism.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Malaria: Treats malaria - an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites spread to people through the bites of mosquitos.

Parasiticide: Treats external parasites such as ringworm This should perhaps be joined with Parasiticide in

Other

Rating: 4

Other uses rating: High (4/5). Other Uses: The seeds contain 16% non-drying oil. The wood is heavy, strong and hard, it has a slight pleasant fragrance when freshly cut. The heartwood is cream-coloured to golden yellow, darkening to brown with age; it is not clearly demarcated from the slightly paler sapwood. The grain is usually interlocked or wavy, texture fine and even. The wood is often striped or mottled, and remarkably lustrous. Dark gum veins are a common defect, as they are liable to develop into splits. The wood is difficult to work with hand tools and moderately hard to saw and machine, with a moderate to severe blunting effect on cutting tools. In planing a cutting angle of 15? is required to avoid tearing. A neat finishing makes it possible to obtain a perfectly polished surface and a beautiful glazed effect. Boring operations are reported to be rather difficult, and the wood requires to be held firmly in boring operations to prevent chattering. Preboring is recommended in nailing and screwing, but nail-holding and screw-holding properties are rated as good. The wood turns and stains well, but is difficult to glue. The heartwood is rated as highly resistant to attack by all types of fungi, but in India it is reported to possess little resistance to attack by termites. It is also susceptible to attack by marine borers, and to a lesser extent by pinhole borers and longhorn beetles. The sapwood is not susceptible to Lyctus borers. The heartwood is extremely resistant to preservative treatment. The wood is reported to cause skin irritation. A decorative timber, it is used for furniture, panelling, pattern making, interior trim, cabinet work, flooring, boxes, crates, interior joinery, carvings, toys, musical instruments and luxury goods. It is made into decorative veneer, which is, however, unsuitable for plywood manufacture because of its weight. Because of its strength it is also used for heavy construction, railway sleepers, boat building and agricultural equipment. The wood is also used as fuel wood.

Containers: Plants, such as gourds, that can be used as containers. Does not include baskets or containers made from wood.

Essential: Essential oils that are used in perfumery, medicines, paint solvents, insect repellents etc.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Furniture: A few miscellaneous uses that do not fit easily into other headings.

Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.

Parasiticide: Kills external body parasites such as hair lice.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Coppice: A traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down.

How it is grown

A plant of the lowland moist tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 450 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 30 - 40°c, but can tolerate 10 - 47°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 1,500mm, but tolerates 750 - 1,900mm. Grows best in a sunny position. Succeeds in most soils that are well-drained. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5 - 7.8. Established plants are drought tolerant. The tree has shown good growth rates in Nigeria. It coppices well. The plant is susceptible to fire damage. In India the tree is an alternative food-plant for the caterpillars of Papilio demoleus, a pest of Citrus spp.

Propagating it: Seed

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Fast

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Chloroxylon swietenia or commonly known as East Indian Stainwood. Ceylon Satinwood, East Indian Satinwood, Buruta ¥ Hindi: Bhirra, Bhivia, Dhoura, Girya ¥ Marathi: Behru, Halda, Bheria, Hulda ¥ Tamil: Vaaimaram or porasu, Mammarai, Porinja maram ¥ Malayalam: Varimaram: Telugu: billu, billydu, billudu, bella Kannada: bittulla, huragalu, hurihuli, masula Oriya: bheru gatcho ¥ Sanskrit: bhillotaka, bimbilota

Synonyms

Chloroxylon chloroxylon (Roxb.) Huth [Invalid]. Swietenia chloroxylon Roxb.