Barringtonia acutangula (L.) Gaertn.
Vernacular name: Indian oak, Hijjal (Hindi: हिज्जल)
Species Name: Barringtonia acutangula (L.) Gaertn.
Family: Lecythidaceae
Habit: Semi-deciduous medium tree
Stem: Buttressed base, bark smooth grey-brown, branchlets lenticellate.
Leaf: Simple, alternate, crowded at branch tips, obovate 7-18 × 2.5-7 cm, serrulate, subcoriaceous.
Flowering: May–August
Flowers: Terminal racemose panicles 10-25 cm long (thyrsoid inflorescence – many-flowered panicles with lateral cymes); white petals 4, 10-12 mm; numerous stamens pink, exserted; inferior ovary 2-loculed.
Fruit: Fibrous green berry, quadrangular-obovoid 2.5-4 cm, buoyant
Uses:
- Bark for diarrhea and fever
- Seed oil is used for rheumatism.
- Traditional stories: Ayurvedic “Hijjala” for emesis; tribal fish stunning in Bihar ponds.
- Ornamental, fish poison, shade tree.
