Bio Diversity Park

Common Name : Indian Mahogany, Red Cedar

Hindi Name : तून | Scientific Name : Toona ciliata
Family : Meliaceae
Uses : Toon is famous for its fragrant red wood that is much sought after for use in furniture making, building and ornamental woodwork. The wood has a variety of uses such as for boat building, cabinet making, cigar boxes, matchboxes, decorative plywood and veneer, food containers, furniture, interior trim, joinery, musical instruments, ornamental work, panelling, boxes and crates, building materials, exterior uses, millwork, mouldings. The soft wood is easily worked and polishes to a rich red that is enhanced with age. The leaves are sometimes lopped for fodder. The flowers contain a red colouring matter and also a sulphur-coloured dye. Cotton and woollen fabric can be dyed a dull yellow by mere immersion in a boiling extract of its flowers. The flowers are used in conjunction with safflower and turmeric to produce a sulphur-yellow colour. Bark contains tannin, and it has also been used traditionally for twines and the manufacture of string bags. An aromatic oil can be extracted from the fruit. Some extracts from the bark have insect-repellent properties.
Native: South Asia
General Description:

Toon is a large deciduous tree generally with a wide spreading and handsome crown attaining a height of 45m and a stem diameter of 2m. In cities may be of a much smaller stature. Flowers are white, fragrant, in a large pyramidal panicle at the ends of the branchlets. Individual flowers about 5mm long. Flowering period is in spring. Leaves are alternate, pinnate, consisting of five to seventeen leaflets. Leaflets opposite or irregularly alternate, ovate-lanceolate, 4-13 cm long, often drawn out to a long point at the tip, unequal at the base. Green both surfaces, paler beneath, red and downy when young.