Chittagong wood, Burma almond tree
Chukrasia tabularis

Family: Meliaceae

What it is like

A tree. It grows 25-35 m tall. The trunk is long and straight. It can be 20 m long and 1 m across. It has a large spreading crown. The bark is dark brown and coarsely cracked. The inner bark is red. The leaves are 30-85 cm long. There are 8-13 pairs of leaflets. These are 7-13 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. They are narrowly oval and taper to the tip. Young leaves have fine hairs. There are 7-10 pairs of side veins. The flowers are 3 cm across. They are pale red but often with a red tinge on the outside. They are in branched clusters. The fruit is yellowish grey and 4 cm long. It is slightly hairy when young. It becomes wrinkled when ripe. It splits into 3 sections. It is full of winged seeds.

There is only one Chukrasia species. It is used as medicine.

Where it is found

It is a tropical plant. In the south of China it grows in mixed evergreen broad-leaved and deciduous forests between 300-1,600 m above sea level. It is usually on limestone mountains. In XTBG Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia (country/location of origin), Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, SE Asia, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Africa

How it is used for food

The young fruit are possibly edible.

Edible parts

Fruit ?

How it is grown

Plants can be grown by seeds. They can also be grown by cuttings and air-layering.

Its other names

Local names

Chickrassia, Chukrasay, Indian redwood, Kin-thabut-gyi, Lat, Lat hoa, Nhom, Nhom hin, Nhom khao, Pohon suntang, Taw-yinma, Yinma, Vor yong

Synonyms

Chickrassia tabularis (A. Juss.) Wight & Arn.; Dysoxylum esquirolli H. Lev.; Swietenia chickrassa Roxb.;