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Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb.

Synonym                    : Myrobalanus bellirica Gaertn

Family                        : Combretaceae

Local Names              : Thanni, Thannikka, Bedda nut tree

Flowering and fruiting period: December – January  

Distribution: Indo-Malaysia

Habitat: Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in the plains

IUCN status: Data Deficient

Endemic: No

Uses: In traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Baheda is known as "Bibhitaki;" in its fruit form it is used in the popular Indian herbal rasayana treatment triphala. This species is used by some tribes in the Indian subcontinent for its mind-altering qualities - they smoke dried kernels. Too much of this can cause nausea and vomiting.

Key Characters: Deciduous trees, to 35 m high; bark surface blackish-grey, smooth. Leaves simple, opposite or alternate, clustered at the tip of branchlets, obovate, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, greenish-yellow, in axillary spikes. Calyx tube lobes 5, cream, triangular. Petals absent. Ovary  inferior, 1-celled; ovules 2 or 3, pendulous; stigma small. Fruit a drupe, obovoid, yellowish-brown; seed one, ellipsoid.