The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Dalbergia sissoo
Also called Sissoo, Sisu, North Indian Rosewood
Indian rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo, also called shisham) is a fast-growing, hardy deciduous tree from the Indian subcontinent, grown mainly outdoors for timber and shade. The key to growing it is full sun and a deep, well-drained soil, as seedlings dislike shade.
Dalbergia sissoo, known commonly as North Indian rosewood or shisham, is a fast-growing, hardy, deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian subcontinent and southern Iran. D. sissoo is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leaves and whitish or pink flowers.
Propagation takes place most commonly by root suckers, but also by seeds. When exposed to air, the seeds remain viable for only a few months, but if stored in secured vessels can last for as long as four years. Seeds should be soaked in water for 48 hours before sowing; 60% – 80% germination can be expected in 1–3 weeks. Seedlings require partial sun or full
sun. In India, shisham wood trading and its uses are under government restrictions.
Dalbergia sissoo is native to the foothills of the Himalayas ranging from Afghanistan in the west to Bihar, India, in the east. It also occurs naturally in Iran. It is primarily found growing along river banks above 200 m (700 ft) elevation, but can range naturally up to 1,400 m (4,600 ft). The temperature in its native range is typically 10 to 40 °C (50 to 104 °F), but varies from just below freezing to nearly 50 °C (122 °F). It can withstand average annual rainfall up to 2,000 millimetres (79 in) and droughts of three to four months. Soils range from pure sand and gravel to rich alluvium of river banks; shisham can grow in slightly saline soils. Seedlings are intolerant of shade.
Hluhluwe climber · Thailand rosewood · Coinvine · Cocobolo · Hwangdan · Indian rosewood · Dalbergia maritima · African blackwood · Dalbergia miscolobium · Brazilian rosewood · Climbing Flat Bean · Fragrant Rosewood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dalbergia sissoo by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
