CSIR-NEERI Biodiversity Portal

TEAK / SAGWAN

Tectona grandis Linn.

Botanical name	: Tectona grandis Linn.
Synonym	: Jatus grandis (L. f.) Kuntze
Vernacular name	: Teak / Sagwan
Family	: Verbenaceae
About the Tree	: A deciduous tree attaining very large size, open Crown with many small branches, the bole is often buttressed and may be fluted. Teak is considered a good quality wood for furniture. It is native to India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Height	: Grows up to 10 to 20 m.
Bark	: Bark is 10-20 mm thick, yellowish-brown, rough, distinctly fibrous with shallow, longitudinal fissures, fibrous.
Leaf	: Leaves are simple, opposite, estipulate; petiole 10-50 mm long, stout, tomentose, lamina 30-60 x 15-30 cm, ovate, obovate, base attenuate, apex acute or obtuse, margin entire, wavy, glabrous above and pubescent below with minute red glands.
Flower	: Flowers small, bisexual, about 8 mm across, calyx 5 mm long campanulate, lobes 5-6. Corolla 6 mm long, lobes 5-6, oblong, spreading. Stamens 5-6, filaments 3 mm, anthers oblong. Style slender 4 mm, stigma linearly bifid. Mauve to white and arranged in large, flowering heads, about 45 cm long, found on the topmost branches in the unshaded part of the crown.
Fruits	: Fruit is a drupe with 4 chambers, 1.5-2 cm across, round, hard and woody, enclosed in an inflated calyx, bladder-like covering, pale green at first, then brown at maturity. Each fruit may contain 0 to 4 oblong seeds.
Season	: Leaf Fall occurs from November to March. Flowering is from June-August and fruiting occurs from November to January.
Medicinal Properties Peculiar Character	: It is useful in bronchitis, hyperacidity, dysentery, burning sensation, diabetes, leprosy and skin diseases. : From November to January, the tree is leafless.