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Shorea robusta
Also called Saltree
Sal tree is a large forest timber tree of the Indian subcontinent and Himalayan foothills, often dominant in the forests where it grows. It is grown outdoors in warm, seasonally dry tropical climates, not as a houseplant.
Shorea robusta, the sal tree (Devanagari: साल ; IAST: sāla), shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions.
This tree is native to the Indian subcontinent, ranging south of the Himalaya, from Myanmar in the east to Nepal, India and Bangladesh. In India, it extends from Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand west to the Shivalik Hills in Haryana, east of the Yamuna. The range also extends through the Eastern Ghats and to the eastern Vindhya and Satpura ranges of central India. It is often the dominant tree in the forests where it occurs. In Nepal, it is found mostly in the Terai region from east to west, especially, in the Sivalik Hills (Churia Range) in the subtropical climate zone. There are many protected areas, such as Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park and Shuklaphanta National Park, where there are dense forests of huge sal trees. It is also found in the lower belt of the Hilly region and Inner Terai.
Sal is one of the most important sources of hardwood timber in India, with hard, coarse-grained wood that is light in colour when freshly cut, but becomes dark brown with exposure. The wood is resinous and durable, and is sought after for construction, although not well suited to planing and polishing. The wood is especially suitable for constructing frames for doors and windows.
Shorea astylosa · Richetia gibbosa · Rubroshorea leprosula · Rubroshorea macrophylla · Shorea obtusa · Rubroshorea pauciflora · Shorea sumatrana · Shorea tumbuggaia · Shorean
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Shorea robusta 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.
