Buchanania Lanzan
Family : Anacardiaceae
Common Name : Chironji tree
English Name : Cuddapah almond
Hindi Name : Char
Telugu Name : Charumamidi
Bengali Name : Piyal
Tree Characteristics :
Chironji Tree is a medium-sized deciduous tree, growing to about 50 ft tall. It bears fruits each cotaining a single seed, which is popular as an edible nut, known as chironji. Common in forests mostly in eroded ravine lands, and occurs with species like Soyamidafebrifuga. It avoids waterlogged areas, but occurs locally in clay soils. Identified by dark grey crocodile bark with red blaze. A good species for afforesting bare hill slopes. It has poor coppicing capacity and produces root suckers sparingly. Fruits ripen from April to May and remain on the tree for quite a long time. Flowering: January-March.
Nursery:
Direct sowing is more successful than planting out bag plants. The seeds are sown in polybags in June and a layer of hay is spread over bags. It should be sown at swallow depth, say that is about 0.5 cm; pre-treatment of seeds with IBA 100 or 200 ppm or cowdung slury treatment found useful. Germination starts after 15 to 20 days. Development of the seedlings is slow.
Economic Uses:
The gum from the tree is used against leprosy in traditional medicine
The roots are acrid, astringent, cooling, depurative and constipating.
They are useful in the treatment of diarrhoea
The leaves are used in the treatment of skin diseases.
The fruits are used in treating coughs and asthma.
Seed - raw or cooked.An excellent flavour, somewhat reminiscent of almonds or pistachios.
Eaten as a dessert seed and also used in sweetmeats.In some parts of India the dried fruit and seed are baked together to make a sort of bread
The seed contains about 50% oil.
The fruit hangs on the tree for quite a long while after it has ripened.
