Tectona grandis

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Angiospermae
Class: Dicotyledonae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Tectona
Species: T.grandis
Scientific Name: Tectona grandis L.

Common names
English: Teak.
Hindi: Sagun.
Kannada: Tega.
Marathi: Sagwan.

Description

1. Habit and Habitat: A large, deciduous tree with square, channeled, hairy stem.
2. Distribution: A very popular timber tree, teak is native to India and Burma to Java. It is a deciduous tree attaining a very large size. However, in cities it might be seen on the roadside as a medium sized tree with large leaves. Teak is considered a good quality wood for furniture.
3. Morphology:
   Leaf: Very large, opposite or whorled, entire, elliptic or obovate, acute, rough and hairy.Leaves of the tree are opposite, 30-60 cm long and 15-30 cm broad.
   Inflorescence: Large, terminal, branched, hairy cymose panicles.
   Flowers: The flowers come in large numbers in lax clusters at the end of branches. They are white and rather small - about 6 mm across.Bracteate, bracts lanceolate at the forks, bracteoles below the calyx, linear. Calyx 5-6 lobed, bell-shaped, hairy, enlarged and bladder-like in fruit and enclosing it, ovoid, crumpled, veined. Corolla white, lobes 5-6, unequal, imbricate.
   Androecium: Stamens 5, on the base of the corolla.
   Gynoecium: Ovary 4-celled, fleshy, ovule in each cell, style slender, stigma bifid.
   Fruit: Drupe subglobose, pericarp soft with felted stellate hairs, endocarp bony, enclosed in accrescent calyx.
   Seedss: seed exalbuminous.
   Flowering and Fruiting time: June – September.
4. Propagation: Teak is propagated mainly from seeds.Clonal propagation of teak has been successfully done through grafting, rooted stem cuttings and micro propagation.
5. Importance: Timber is famous all over the world for house-building and furniture.Wood very durable, resistant to fungi. Used for poles, beams, trusses, columns, roofs, doors, window frames, flooring, planking, panelling, and staircases, and other constructional work.Teak is employed for sound – boards of musical instruments, keys etc. and for different grades of plywood.Leaves contain about 6% tannin and a dye; also used for thatching. Oily product obtained by distillation of wood chips applied to eczema. A plaster made from the powdered wood is a good remedy for splitting headaches.
6. Location: New Building, Library – Gymkhana.