Description

Beautyleaf is a large evergreen plant, commonly called tamanu, mastwood, beach calophyllum. It is native to tropical Asia and Wallacea. Due to its importance as a source of timber for the traditional shipbuilding of large outrigger ships, it has been spread in prehistoric times by the migrations of the Austronesian peoples to the islands of Oceania and Madagascar, along with other members of the genus Calophyllum. It has since been naturalized in regions in the East African coast. It is also a source of the culturally important tamanu oil.

Characteristics:

Sultan Champa is a beautiful large evergreen tree native to southern coastal India, East Africa, Malaysia and Australia. It is a low-branching and slow-growing tree with a broad and irregular crown. It usually reaches 8 to 20 m in height. The tree supports a dense canopy of glossy, elliptical leaves. The very fragrant white flowers are 25 mm across and occur in racemose or paniculate inflorescences consisting of 4 to 15 flowers. The flowers have snow-white petals with a thick center of yellow stamens. The fragrant flowers have been prized as an adornment and as a perfume. The fruit (the ballnut) is a round, green drupe reaching 2 to 4 cm in diameter and having a single large seed. When ripe, the fruit is wrinkled and its color varies from yellow to brownish-red. This tree often grows in coastal regions as well as nearby lowland forests. However it has also been cultivated successfully in inland areas at moderate altitudes.

Medicinal Uses:

Numerous uses in traditional medicine have been recorded from tropical Asia and the Pacific: the latex and pounded bark are applied externally on wounds, ulcers and to treat phthisis, orchitis and lung affections, and internally as a purgative, after childbirth and to treat gonorrhoea; a leaf infusion is used to treat sore eyes, haemorrhoids and dysentery; heated leaves are applied to cuts, sores, ulcers, boils and skin rash; leaves are used in inhalations to treat migraine and vertigo; the seed oil is applied externally as an analgesic against rheumatism and sciatica, and as a medication against swellings, ulcers, scabies, ringworm, boils and itch; and the flowers are used as a heart tonic