Shorea robusta

Salbaum ( Shorea robusta)

The Salbaum ( Shorea robusta) is a flowering plant in the family of wing fruit plants ( Dipterocarpaceae ). Local common names in India include Ral, Salwa, Sakhu, Sakher, Shal, Kandar and Sakwa.

Description

The Salbaum grows as an upright tree, reaching heights of growth of up to 35 m. He is regarded as slow to medium growing ( is about 100 years old ) and has a hard wood. The strain reached a diameter of up to 2 m. The freshly cut heartwood is light, darkens later, after. It is rich in resin and durable. The sapwood is whitish and rots quite quickly. The bark of young trees is 2 to 5 cm thick, interspersed with a few soft and deep furrows. The bark of older trees is reddish - brown or gray. Young twigs are hairy. In moist areas of Salbaum is always green, in drier areas he loses February to April most of its foliage. In April / May then new ones oblong- oval leaves that are 5 to 24 cm wide and 10 to 40 cm long and 2 to 2.5 cm long, have hairy stems. The two lines arranged leaves are leathery and shine on the top when they are older, the lower leaf surface, however, is pale green. There emerge the midrib and the lateral veins about 12. The Spreitenspitze is tapered, the Spreitengrund is heart-shaped or rounded. The stipules are oblong and fall off very early.

The flowering period is from February to May The flowers are up to 25 cm long panicles racemösen. The petals are cream-colored to yellowish and sometimes may have a pink center strip. They are approximately 0.5 x 1 to 1.5 cm long and twisted ( contort ). The sepals are young hairy oval and densely buff. In the fruit ripening grow three of the five sepals too long (1.5 x 8 cm) wings, the other two are smaller (0.5 x 3 cm). The flower has many stamens, whose connectives form small appendages. It is formed only a stylus.

The fruit is a nut to 1.2 cm long and has a 1.2 -cm-long pen rest on top. It is surrounded by five sepals, three of which grow into wings and are used to wind propagation ( Anemochorie ). End of May to July, from 0.5 to 1.2 cm wide fruits are ripe. The seeds germinate often already on the mother plant ( viviparous ) and grow on the watered by the spring monsoon ground very quickly.

Dissemination

It is an important tree species in the north of the Indian subcontinent. There he is making forest ( Salwald ) and thus a form of monsoon forests.

The Salbaum grows south of the Himalaya, from Myanmar in the east over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bangladesh, Sikkim and Nepal. In Central India it is found in the northern states in the Shivalik Hills to the east of the river Yamuna in the state of Haryana. The distribution goes south further into the eastern Vindhyagebirge, the Satpura range and in the Eastern Ghats.

Ecology and hazard

Salbäume mainly grow on sandy loam (50 % sand, 30 % silt, 20 % clay mineral ). They prefer drier locations, long-lasting flooding hurt them. Nevertheless, a distinction is damp coastal Salwälder of the drier inland Sal forests.

The Salbaum needs a lot of light and does not tolerate shading. He forms a loose canopy, so that the understory is well exposed.

In Sal forests there is (probably by humans ) frequently result in fire, against the adult trees resistant. Younger trees can vary depending on fire intensity damage carry, especially by wound infections caused by fungi. In this respect, it is questionable whether fire rather uses or harm, since fire in other ecosystems, such as the South African fynbos, is important for the release of nutrients. The increased growth of the herbaceous layer after fires, however, seem to support the browsing of seedlings by higher herbivore densities.

In addition to fires is a beetle, the Sal heartwood borer Hoplocerambyx spinicornis, a significant threat to the Salbaums. Since the nature of vegetation is dominant ( though not as a monoculture ), the hazard potential is very large due to pests.

Since the Salbaum has many possible applications for humans (see section below), there is also the danger of overuse, so that a forest management is needed.

Use

The wood of the Salbaumes is difficult to work through the resin and the fibrous structure and is mainly used for building houses, bridges, pallets, cars, telephone and electricity poles and used as a track pad. Therefore, it has a significant economic value. The whitish, opalescent resin used for sealing planks and burned at Hindu ceremonies as incense.

The leaves serve as plates or baskets for dishes. The folded sheets with a little turmeric or some rice grains are also an invitation to a wedding. The product obtained from distillation of the oil of the leaves is used for the preparation of perfume, perfuming or by chewing or smoking tobacco.

The oil-rich seeds are utilized diverse. The oil or sal butter, contains primarily stearic acid and oleic acid and is used inter alia for the production of soaps and cosmetics and is used as a lamp oil. It is permitted as an additive in the production of chocolate. Sal is cured sold as an herbal Vanapastighee or illegal for stretching genuine ghee (clarified butter ) is used.

The oil cake of the pressed seed is rich in tannins (6-8 %) and is mixed with cattle up to 20 % hydrogen content in the feed, in pigs and poultry 10% admixture are possible.

Salbaum in the saga

The wide distribution of Sal and its importance has also been reflected in the culture. Thus gave birth to a legend, the Queen Maya her son Siddhartha Gautama, who later became his enlightenment by the Buddha, under a Salbaum. Another legend says she had dreamed under a Salbaum of an elephant with six tusks, which penetrates into her body. This, Airavata called elephant is considered by many Hindus to be the reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. Also is said Buddha had died under a Salbaum.