Pterygota alata, Sterculia alata, Buddha Coconut, Kolugida, Kodaittondi

Pterygota alata (Roxb.) R.Br.

Synonym: Sterculia alata Roxb., Clompanus alata (Roxb.) Kuntze

Common name: Buddha Coconut
Assamese: Tula, Pahari
Bengali: Tula, Buddha-Narikel
Chinese: 海南苹婆
Kannada: Kolugida, Tattele mara, Bekaro, Daddele, Jaynkathala
Malayalam: Porila
Marathi: करवटी Karvati
Tamil: கொடைத்தோண்டி Kodaittondi

Description: Deciduous trees, to 35 m high, bole straight, buttressed; bark, greyish with light and dark patches, smooth; blaze creamy yellow; young parts covered with dense golden brown stellate-pubescence. Leaves simple, alternate clustered towards the end of branches; stipule free, lateral, cauducous; petiole 3.5-10 cm long, slender, glabrous; lamina 10-30 x 7.5-20 cm, ovate or orbicular, base cordate, subcordate or truncate, apex caudate-acuminate or acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous, 5-7 nerved from base, palmate, lateral nerves 3-6 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate, slender, prominent. Flowers unisexual or polygamous, to 2 cm long, brownish, in rusty brown tomentose panicles from leafless nodes; calyx 5-partite, lobes 1 cm long, curved out, tomentose outside; male flowers: staminal column cylindric bearing 4-5 phalanges of about 5 anthers each; female flowers: staminodes round the base of the ovary; carpels 5, free, superior, ovules many in each; style short, recurved; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit of 3-5 follicles, 10-12.5 cm long, obovoid oblique; seeds 25-30, 5-7.5 cm long, oblong, brown winged.

Stimulant, digestive, aphrodisiac [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]

18 Published articles of Pterygota alata
1.    Structure and distribution of heteromorphic stomata in Pterygota alata (Roxb.) R. Br. (Malvaceae, f.S.M., Sonia, G.G. Maiti, and D. Maity, Adansonia, 2015. 37(1): p. 139-147.
2.    Standardization of bast fibre extraction procedure from Sterculia alata - a non-conventional source of fibre Aaditaa and J. Shahnaz, International Journal of Basic and Applied Agricultural Research, 2015. 13(1): p. 117-119.
3.    A new phenylpropanoid galactoside and other constituents from Pterygota alata (Roxb.) R. Brown Lin, L., Z. Song, and H. Xu, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 2010. 38(6): p. 1238-1241.
4.    Preparation and characterization of activated carbons from Sterculia alata nutshell by chemical activation with zinc chloride to remove phenol from wastewater Mohanty, K., D. Das, and M.N. Biswas, Adsorption-Journal of the International Adsorption Society, 2006. 12(2): p. 119-132.
5.    Corynespora leaf spot, a.n.d.o.P.a.a.i.m.A., Mehrotra, Indian Journal of Forestry, 2001. 24(2): p. 237-238.
6.    The effects of plant material and land preparation on the growth of Pterygota alata Roxb. in Yanlapa Hendromono, Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 1998(615): p. 9-19.
7.    The effects of organic and mineral soil media on the quality of Pterygota alata Roxb. Seedligs. Hendromono, Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 1998(617): p. 55-64.
8.    The leaf anatomy of Pterygota alata (Roxb.) R.Br., K.h.L.a.C.b.L.M.S.H., Khatijah and Z.M. Sani, Malaysian Applied Biology, 1996. 25(1): p. 41-49.
9.    Pterygota alata Roxb. stem cuttings originating from branches of trees and natural regenerated seedlings Hendromono, Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 1996(602): p. 1-7.
10.    Effects of planting stock type and TSP base fertilizer on the growth and survival percentages of Pterygota alata Roxb Hendromono, Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 1996(604): p. 11-21.
11.    UNDERGROWTH PLANT COMMUNITIES AND SOIL CONDITIONS OF FOREST PLANTATIONS OF SHOREA-JAVANICA PTERYGOTA-ALATA MELIA-EXCELSA AND SWIETENIA-MACROPHYLLA AT PASIR AWI EXPERIMENTAL GARDEN WEST JAVA INDONESIA Sidiyasa, K., Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 1990(529): p. 25-36.
12.    REGENERATION OF PTERYGOTA-ALATA AND KHAYA-ANTHOTHECA WITH STUMPS AND CUTTINGS Bramasto, Y., M. Charomaini-Z, and R.M. Harahap, Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 1990(528): p. 35-42.
13.    Fibre dimension studies of five Bangladesh wood species Albizia falcataria, B.j., Lannea coromandelica, Pterygota alata, Tetrameles nudiflora Das, D. K., Bano Biggyan Patrika, 1987. 16(1-2): p. 43-49.
14.    Effect of IBA on rooting of cuttings of Eugenia formosa Wall and Sterculia alata Roxb. var. diversifolia Mukhopadhyay, D.P. and D.K. Gain, South Indian Horticulture, 1983. 31(6): p. 307-307.
15.    Some information on the silvicultural characteristics of 1 Pterygota alata; 2 Enterolobium cyclocarpum Alrasjid, H. and R.I. Ardikusumah, Laporan, Lembaga Penelitian Hutan, 1973(172; 177): p. 14 pp. + 2 pl.; 13 pp. + 1 pl.-14 pp. + 2 pl.; 13 pp. + 1 pl.
16.    EFFECT OF PHOTOPERIOD ON ANNUAL GROWTH CYCLE OF 2 FOREST TREE SPECIES AT SEEDLING STAGE PTERYGOTA-ALATA-D MANILKARA-BOJERI-D Saini, A.D. and B. Safui, Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India, 1968. 10(1): p. 84-89.
17.    Production of mechanical pulps from Sterculia alata and Cassia siamea Guha, S.R.D., M.M. Singh, and K. Kumar, Indian Forester, 1966. 92(8): p. 523-8.
18.    Indigenous cellulosic raw materials for the production of pulp, p.a.b.P.X.C.p.f.w.a.p.p.f.S.a.R.L.B., R. V. and P.R. Gupta, Indian Forester, 1954. 80(3): p. 154-159.