Terminalia Chebula(Dried Fruit)
LATIN NAME: Terminalia chebula
COMMON NAME: Chebulic Myrobalan
In the warm forests of the south of Asia grows a tall, spreading tree whose dried fruits have been a familiar of the traditional medicine and the dye pot of the region for a very long time. The chebulic myrobalan is a large, deciduous tree, reaching up to thirty metres or more, with the fine, leathery leaves and the small, yellowish-white flowers in the long, branching spikes, followed by the smooth, oval, ribbed fruits that ripen from the green to a pale yellow-brown. The dried fruits keep for a long time, and they have been traded across the region for centuries. It is a species of the flowering tree in the combretum family, native to the warm forests of the south of Asia, and it is known as the chebulic myrobalan.
The chebulic myrobalan belongs to the combretum family, Combretaceae, and it is a large, deciduous tree of the warm forests of the south of Asia. Its smooth, oval, ribbed fruits are the part that has made the tree famous, and they have been gathered and dried for a very long time. It is known as the chebulic myrobalan, and it is treasured for its dried fruits.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The chebulic myrobalan has a long paper trail in the traditional medicine of the region, and that history has been written up in the pharmaceutical and botanical papers. The dried fruits have been studied for their chemistry, and the tree has been looked at for its place in the traditional practice of the region. The plant is best understood as a traditional herb of the region rather than a modern medicine, and its chemistry continues to be a subject of the study. The tree has also been studied in the forestry for its fine, hard wood and its tough, spreading ways, and its ribbed fruits for their long keeping. For a tree with such a long traditional story, the chebulic myrobalan has a rich and continuing record of study.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
For the people of the region, the chebulic myrobalan is a tree of many uses. Its dried fruits have long been a part of the traditional medicine of the region, and they have also been used in the dyeing, while the fine, hard wood of the tree has been valued in the building. In the warm garden the tree gives a fine, spreading shade, and its smooth, oval, ribbed fruits are a quiet autumn harvest. The tree is best understood as a traditional plant of the region, and its dried fruits remain a familiar of the old practice. In the warm garden the chebulic myrobalan is a fine, spreading tree. These seeds are best sown fresh — clean the seeds off the fruits and sow them straight away at a shallow depth in pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots warm and lightly shaded and water them regularly, and the first sturdy shoots will push through before long.
Uses: Medicinal
