Holigarna ferruginea Marchand (ANACARDIACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Chere.
Tulu: Chere.
Tamil: Chaeri.
Malayalam: Haisikutti Cherai.
Description: Large trees, 30-33 m tall; branches glabrous. Leaves alternate, clustured at the ends of branchlets, obovate or oblaceolate, up to 22x 9 cm, cuneate at base, obtuse or acute at apex, glabrous, glaucous beneath; nerves 12-16 pairs; petiole up to 1.5 cm long with a pair of caducous spurs. Flowers in up to 18 cm long, dark brown pubescent panicles, polygamous. Calyx 5-lobed. Petals 5. Male flowers 4 mm across. Stamens 5, filaments filiform. Disc 5-lobed, copular. Bisexual flowers 6 mm in diam., white. Ovary inferior, 1-loculed; styles 3. The fruit is a drupe, ellipsoid, reaching up to 3.5 cm in length, fully enveloped in a rustically tomentose hypocarp. Upon ripening, it turns black and exhibits a resinous quality. The seed is singular.
Flowering: February – April.
Fruiting: June – July
Distribution: India: In semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic to South W. India.
Uses: Tender leaves are used in making chutney. Timber useful for construction and agricultural implements. The acrid juice from the stem and fruit-rind is used as a black varnish by the painters.