Dalbergia sissoo

Dalbergia sissoo

Dalbergia sissoo ( sheesham also shisha, Shisham, Indian rosewood and Indian rosewood) is the state tree of the Indian state of Punjab and also the coat of arms of the same tree Pakistani province.

Description

D. sissoo is a medium to large deciduous tree with a light crown. It can reach 25 m in height and 2-3 m in diameter, but usually remains smaller. The trunks are often grown in free-standing habit. The tree has a long taproot and numerous surface roots that produce numerous suckers. Young shoots are downy and drooping. Mature trees have an up to 2.5 cm thick, light brown to dark gray -brown bark that peels off in narrow strips.

The change-constant leaves are leathery, pinnately lobed and can reach 15 cm in length. The flowers are whitish to pink, fragrant, nearly sessile and up to 1.5 cm long. They sit in dense, 5-10 cm long racemes.

The light-brown fruits are flat, thin strap-like pods that are 4-8 cm long and 1 cm wide. They contain 1-5 flat, 8-10 mm long, bean-shaped seeds.

The heartwood is golden to dark brown, the sapwood white to pale brownish white. The core is very durable due to its high specific gravity of 0.7-0.8 and is resistant to termites. The sapwood is, however, easily attacked by fungi and boring insects.

Dissemination

The tree is found mainly along river banks below 900 m altitude, reached in its natural occurrence but also heights of up to 1300 m. The average temperature is 10-40 ° C, but can vary between the freezing point and 50 ° C. Sheesham can withstand up to 2000 mm annual rainfall, but also 3-4 months of drought. It grows on sand and gravel, but also on nutrient-rich alluvial deposits of the rivers. He also tolerates slightly saline soils.

Use

Sheesham is a plantation timber from the Palisanderfamilie that is as a material, as well as fuel, food, protection and shade tree significant.

Because of its many uses, tolerance of light frosts and long dry periods of the tree for plantation forestry, reforestation and agroforestry is available. After teak, the species is the most important forest tree in the Punjab, which is also the largest supplier of wood in Pakistan and India. In Bihar, the tree is planted as a street tree, along channels for shade and as a shade tree for tea plantations. Also in South Indian cities like Bangalore, it is often planted as a street tree.

Dalbergia sissoo contains the Neoflavonoid Dalbergichromen in the bark of the tree and the heartwood.

Sheesham is a high quality wood for joinery and veneer production. It is also processed into plywood, agricultural equipment and musical instruments that can be used for skiing, carving, boat building and as flooring. The percussion instrument used in Kartaals Radjastan is often made of this wood.

The calorific value of the splint is 4,908 kcal / kg, the heartwood 5,181 kcal / kg. As Sheesham wood is beaten in a ten - to 15 - year cycle. The tree has a good ability to coppice, although after two or three cycles impact a decline in vitality is observed. A high-quality charcoal is made for heating and cooking from the wood.

Propagation

The plant reproduces by suckers, but also by seeds. The latter are only a few months germinate. They are soaked before sowing for 2 days in water. Within one to three weeks to germinate 60 to 80% of the seeds. The seedlings require a sunny or partially shaded spot.

Toxicology

An alcoholic extract of the fruits of Dalbergia sissoo proved to be toxic to the eggs of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi.