Cedrela toona Roxb. ex Wild

Description :

A medium sized, deciduous tree, 18 to 21 m tall and with a diameter of 0.57 to 0.95 m. The crown is broad and rounded. The leaves are compound 30 to 55 cm long. The flowers are small, white and with the fragrance of honey, and occur in dense, hanging bunches between March and May. The fruit is a capsule 2 cm long. Each seed is winged at the top and bottom. The fruiting period is April to July. The shoot borer Hypsipyla sp. can be a serious problem. It is reproduced both from seed and by vegetative means. Seed has a low percent of viability and does not store well. Growth rates are high. Trees 14 m tall with diameters of 20 cm grow in 16 years. Sapwood is pinkish to greyish white. Heartwood is light red aging to reddish brown with Straight, somewhat uneven textured Grains. Specific gravity of 0.57 and a calorific value of 5100 kcal/kg.

Distribution :

This tree is native to the lower Himalayas including, Pakistan and Nepal. In Pakistan it is found in the plains east of the Indus River. Has extensively been planted in Islamabad as an avenue tree. A moderately tolerant tree that can stand some shade at an early age; however, it becomes more intolerant to shade with age. It grows on a variety of well drained soils, in valleys and ravines. It requires a precipitation zone of 1125 to 4000 mm/yr or more. It prefers a sub-humid sub-tropical climate with a temperature range of -5 to 40°C. It is not frost hardy as seedling. The older trees are frost hardy and coppices easily.

Uses :

This is a good tree for reforestation projects because of its fast growth. It is also useful for roadside plantings and as a farm forestry tree. It should be introduced in irrigated plantation to improve biodiversity. Also used in furniture, fodder, ornamental, timber, medicinal (bark for dysentery), shade, and construction.