Macaranga peltata (Roxb.) Muell.-Arg. (EUPHORBIACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Chandakala, Chandakanni.
Tulu: Uppalige.
Malayalam: Vatta.
Tamil: Vattikanni.
Description: Resinous trees up to 10 m tall; branchlets glaucous; young parts brown tomentose. Leaves alternate, peltate, orbicular or broadly ovate, up to 50 x 21 cm, rounded at base, acute or acuminate at apex, red-glandular and villous beneath; peliole up to 25 cm long. Male flowers in axillary panicles, clustered in the axils of large bracts with dentate apex. Perianth lobes 3. Stamens 2-3. Female panicles simpler than in the male. The ovary is globose and densely glandular, with a lateral style. The capsules are globose, approximately 5 mm in diameter, and glandular. It contains a solitary, globose seed.
Flowering : March.
Fruiting : May.
Distribution: India: Orissa and Peninsular India. Sri Lanka.
Uses: Wood suitable for matches. The red gum can be used for taking impressions, for sizing paper and as a substitute for gum arabic. Wood suitable for paper-pulp. Decoction of leaves and bark used as vulnerary.