PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
Terminalia bellirica
Combretaceae FAMILY

Terminalia bellirica

Terminalia bellirica

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The seeds are possible toxic or narcotic[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthFast

The plant has a wide ecological range, succeeding in tropical and subtropical climates, but does not grow above 600 m altitude[2]. It is found at elevations up to 1,400 metres in China[3]. In its natural area of distribution mean annual precipitation varies from 1,000 to over 3,000 mm[2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime annual temperatures are within the range 20 - 33°c, though it can tolerate 5 - 45°c[4]. It is fairly sensitive to frost, though seedlings can survive, particularly when covered with grass[2]. Generally, temperatures of -1°c can kill a tree[4]. Succeeds in any moderately fertile, well-drained soil in a sunny position[5]. Young trees are somewhat shade tolerant[2]. Prefers periodically dry soils, and is moderately drought tolerant[2, 4]. Plants can tolerate short periods of inundation[4]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, but tolerates 5 - 7.5[4]. Trees are leafless for a short period (some weeks) in the dry season[2]. Pollination may be done by insects, as the flowers have unpleasant odour, which attracts flies[2]. Trees planted at a spacing of 1 metre x 6 metres in Java have a mean annual increment in height of 1.6 metres and diameter of 2.1 cm at the age of 15 years; when sown directly at 1 metre x 3 metres the trees closed their canopy after 5 years and gave an annual height and diameter increment of 1.2 metres and 1.3 cm, respectively, after 6 years[2]. The trees had reached a height of 20 - 25 metres in 15 years, after a few thinnings[2]. Trees react well to coppicing, but pollarding does not give good results[2].

Propagation

Seed - pre-soaking in cold water for 24 hours prior to sowing has been reported to improve germination rates[2]. Buried seeds have a better chance of successful germination[2]. The germination rate is quite high for fresh seeds, with reports of 85 - 100% germination, but it declines rapidly when seeds have been stored for some time[2]. Germination needs much moisture, and usually takes 2 - 5 weeks[2]. Usually sown in a nursery seedbed, the seed can also be sown directly in the field when conditions are favourable[2]. When seedlings are raised in the nursery, transplanting to the field before the taproot has developed is strongly preferable, and mostly successful[2]. Clipping the roots and shoots checks growth considerably, stumping is not advised[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Terminalia+bellirica>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  4. [4]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]Flora Malesiana Series 1 — Various · Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch · http://www.archive.org ↩︎A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet
  7. [7]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  8. [8]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  9. [9]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  11. [11]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  12. [12]A Manual of Indian Timbers. — Gamble. J. S. · Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh · 1972 · ISBN - ↩︎First written in the 19th century, but still a classic, giving a lot of information on the uses and habitats of Indian trees. Not for the casual reader.