Shorea robusta Gaertn.Family: Dipterocarpaceae
- Common name: Sal tree
- Assamese: Sal, Hal
- Bengali: Sal, শাল (উদ্ভিদ)
- Chinese: 婆罗双
- Esperanto: Fortika ŝoreo
- Finnish: Intianmerantipuu
- German: Salbaum
- Hindi: साल Sal, Salwa, Sakhu, Sakher
- Japanese: サラソウジュ
- Kannada: ashvakarna, asina, asu, bile-bhogimara
- Khasi: Dieng blei
- Lithuanian: Stambioji šorėja
- Malayalam: karimaruthu, kungiliyam, maramaram കൈമരുത്
- Marathi: sal, guggilu, rala, sajara
- Oriya: Sargi gatcho
- Polish: Damarzyk mocny
- Russian: Сал (растение)
- Sanskrit: agnivallabha, ashvakarna, ashvakarnika
- Sinhala: සල් (බුද්ධ චරිතය සබැඳි)
- Swedish: Salträd
- Tamil: attam, venkungiliyam, kungiliyam
- Telugu: గుగ్గిలం కలప చెట్టు
- Thai: สาละ
- Urdu: Ral, Safed dammar
Description: Trees to 40 m tall, ± tardily deciduous; trunk to 2 m in diam.; crown spreading. Bark gray to dark reddish brown, becoming fissured and flaky; inner bark not laminated; wood hard; heartwood dark brown. Branchlets densely buff scabrous-pubescent. Stipules fugacious, lanceolate, small, lepidote; petiole 2-2.5 cm, buff scabrous-pubescent; leaf blade 10-40 × 5-24 cm, ovate to oblong, thinly leathery, midvein prominent abaxially and conspicuous adaxially, lateral veins ca. 12 pairs prominent abaxially, tertiary veins densely scalariform, glabrous, base obtuse to cordate, apex acuminate. Flowers subsessile, on panicles to 25 cm; branches racemose, secund; bracts caducous, minute. Petals strongly contorted, creamy-yellow or sometimes with a medium pink stripe, 1-1.5 cm × ca. 5 mm, linear. Sepals ovate, to 2 mm in bud, subequal, densely buff pubescent. Stamens many; anthers panduriform, setose toward apex; connective appendages short, stout, exceeding anther apex, sparsely setose. Ovary ovoid, densely buff pubescent. Fruit sepals unequal, spatulate, sparsely pubescent, 3 longer to 8 × 1.5 cm, 2 smaller to 3.5 × 0.5 cm; nut ovoid, ca. 5 × 12 mm. Fl. Feb-May, fr. May-Jul.
Used in Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha. Root paste poured in the vagina before sexual intercourse as vaginal contraceptive. Roots and seeds useful in dysentery. Resin and mustard oil applied for relieving pain; powdered resin with hot milk given to relieve stomach pain. The gum mixed with curd is given in dysentery, gonorrhea, weak digestion, chest pain, stomachache, and as aphrodisiac. Bark cooling, refrigerant, purgative, a decoction given in dysentery, and also used for washing old wounds; bark powder sprinkled on ulcers for healing; bark poultice applied on unhealing sores, and in cuts to stop bleeding. Fruits pounded and the paste given to treat diarrhea. Leaf juice used in skin diseases. Ceremonial, ritual, magico-religious beliefs, wood used for constructing shrines and funerary pillars, resin burnt as incense in religious ceremonies. Seeds and stem bark as fish poison. [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]
Fruit—a paste is prescribed in diarrhoea. Resin—astringent, detergent; antidiarrhoeal and antidysenteric. Essential oil of Sal resin—antiseptic. Used for skin diseases. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]
Used in Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha. Root paste poured in the vagina before sexual intercourse as vaginal contraceptive. Roots and seeds useful in dysentery. Resin and mustard oil applied for relieving pain; powdered resin with hot milk given to relieve stomach pain. The gum mixed with curd is given in dysentery, gonorrhea, weak digestion, chest pain, stomachache, and as aphrodisiac. Bark cooling, refrigerant, purgative, a decoction given in dysentery, and also used for washing old wounds; bark powder sprinkled on ulcers for healing; bark poultice applied on unhealing sores, and in cuts to stop bleeding. Fruits pounded and the paste given to treat diarrhea. Leaf juice used in skin diseases. Ceremonial, ritual, magico-religious beliefs, wood used for constructing shrines and funerary pillars, resin burnt as incense in religious ceremonies. Seeds and stem bark as fish poison. [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]
Fruit—a paste is prescribed in diarrhoea. Resin—astringent, detergent; antidiarrhoeal and antidysenteric. Essential oil of Sal resin—antiseptic. Used for skin diseases. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]
572 Published articles of Shorea robusta
