Antiaris toxicaria - Valkala

Valkala, Antiaris toxicaria

Antiaris toxicaria tree is a deciduous to evergreen tree. It usually grows up to 45 metres tall. The bole can be up to 150cm in diameter and is usually buttressed. The tree is quite widely exploited for its timber and is also used medicinally.

Uses

Eczema, Dysentery, Hepatitis, Disorders of the spleen, Cancer, Leukaemia, Spleenomegaly.

Parts Used

Bark, Heartwood.

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada
Hindi
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Marathi
Gujarathi
Punjabi
Kashmiri
Sanskrit
English

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Habit

Tree

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	Alternate	Lofty trees to 50 m high; bole buttressed; bark 10-15 mm thick greyish-white, smooth, pustular-lenticellate, lenticels in vertical rows; blaze creamy white; exudation watery or milky. Leaves simple, alternate, bifarious; stipule small, lateral, connate, cauducous; petiole 3-8 mm long, stout, velvety; lamina 6.5-15 x 2.5-5 cm, oblong, elliptic-oblong or ovate-oblong, base round, obtuse or cordate, apex acuminate or obtusely acuminate, margin entire or distantly crenulate, coriaceous, glabrous, scabrous beneath; lateral nerves 6-11 pairs, parallel, looped near the margin, prominent, intercostae reticulate, faint.

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Unisexual	Spikes	Greenish-yellow	3-8	Flowers unisexual, greenish-yellow, minute, in spikes; male receptacle to 1.5 cm across, axillary, 3-4 together, tomentose; peduncle velvety; receptacle surrounded by imbricating bracts; tepals 3 or 4, spathulate, imbricate; filaments erect; anthers yellow; female flowers solitary in an involucre of few connate bracts, tepals absent; ovary superior, adnate to the involucre, 1-celled, ovule 1, pendulous; style arms 2, subulate, recurved.

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
Drupe	1.5-2.5 x 1-2 cm		pyriform or obovoid, fleshy, scarlet, velvety; seed 10-16 mm long.

Mode of Propagation

Seeds

How to plant/cultivate

Bark cloth tree is a plant of tropical areas, where it can be found in a wide range of environmental conditions from semi arid to rainforest and even in swamp forests.

Commonly seen growing in areas

Riverine, Evergreen forest.

Photo Gallery

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  Leaves

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  Leaves

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  Canopy

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  Tree

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  Fruits

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  Bark

External Links

• n Antiaris toxicaria plantnet-project.org