Pathimukam: dye yielding plantation tree
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It is also used as a fence crop
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PATHIMUKAM IS a natural dye yielding small medicinal tree also called as sappan or East Indian red wood.
Natural population of the tree is sparse. It is used as a plantation tree for non-forest produces, as a live-fence and for soil up gradation.
It is a poorly formed tree with spreading branches with multiple stems containing thick, short thorns all over the stem.
It grows up to 8-10 m in height and the trunk reaches 15-30 cm in diameter, after a period of eight years.
Ideal for any soil
Sappan plant grows in all types of soils, maximum growth being generally observed in red soil. It withstands drought conditions. Flowering occurs during April and continues till November. Flowers are golden yellow in colour and cross-pollinated by bees, butterflies and insects.
Fruit set starts during September and takes three months time to mature. Each pod bears 3-4 oval, brown to black colour shaped seeds .
Propagation methods
Sappan can be propagated through seeds. Fresh seeds, collected from healthy trees are ideal for better germination. Seeds cannot be stored for a long period and have three months period of viability .
Nursery seedling
A properly maintained sixmonth old nursery seedling attains a growth of about 30-50 cm stem height.
The water-soluble extract from the heartwood is used as a dye for a variety of uses.
The heartwood is the economically important part of the tree, which contains water soluble dyes.
The wood extract is highly acidic and contains phenolic contents and because of this property, the bio-chemical extract obtained from sappan wood is used as an anti-oxidative in meat processing.
The heartwood decoction is used for curing several skin diseases and has diuretic properties, purifies blood and controls diarrhoea and dysentery.
D. KANNAN
& M. ARAVINDAKSHAN
Centre for Environmental Studies
Ettimadai, Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu
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