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Vateria
indica L.
Synonym : Vateria malabarica Blume
Family
: Dipterocarpaceae
Local Names
: Vellakunthirikam, Indian
copal tree, White dammar
Flowering
and fruiting period:
March – August
Distribution: Western Ghats
Habitat: Evergreen and
semi-evergreen forests, also in the plains
IUCN
status:
Critically endangered
Endemic: Yes
Uses: The seeds contain up
to 50% of a solid oil known as 'piney tallow’. This can be used for flavouring
food and as a substitute or adulterant for ghee. The bark is used to control
fermentation in when making alcoholic beverages such as arrack and toddy. The resin obtained from the tree has the same
uses as pine resin. An oil obtained from the seeds is valued locally as an
external application to relieve rheumatism. The bark is astringent.
Key
Characters:
Vateria indica are evergreen trees,
bark greyish, blotched with white and green, smooth; exudation, sticky, resinous;
branchlets puberulus. Leaves simple, alternate, oblong, apex,
