Xylotomic Monograph of Meliaceae of Indian Sub-Continent

Dheerendra Kumar; Sangeeta Gupta; Vishakha Saxena; Dheeraj Kumar; Ashutosh Pathak

doi:10.36808/if/2025/v151i5/170505

Xylotomic Monograph of Meliaceae of Indian Sub-Continent

Authors

Dheerendra Kumar Wood Anatomy Discipline, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun-248006, Uttarakhand
Sangeeta Gupta Wood Anatomy Discipline, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun-248006, Uttarakhand
Vishakha Saxena Department of Forestry, Doon (PG) College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Selaqui, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Dheeraj Kumar Wood Anatomy Discipline, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun-248006, Uttarakhand
Ashutosh Pathak Wood Anatomy Discipline, ICFRE-Forest Research Institute, Dehradun-248006, Uttarakhand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2025/v151i5/170505

Keywords:

Meliaceae, Wood anatomy, India

Abstract

The present study deals with the detailed wood anatomy of 41 species of 17 genera viz. Aglaia, Aphanamixis, Azadirachta, Xylocarpa syn. Carapa, Toona syn. Cedrella, Chisocheton, chukrasia, Cipadessa, Dysoxylum, Heynea syn. Trichilia, Melia, Sandoricum, Soymida, Swietenia, Walsura, Reinwardtiodendron syn. Lansium and Khaya belonging to the family Meliaceae and occurring in India. Besides India, many of the species described are widely distributed in other countries as well.

Qualitative and quantitative data of 147 authentic wood samples belonging to these 17 genera were studied on the basis of their detailed wood microstructure, salient diagnostic features and photomicrographs.

The wood of this family shows diffuse, ring and semi ring porosity, simple perforation plates in vessels, alternate and minute to small inter vessel pits, fibre both septate and non-septate with mostly simple to minutely bordered pits and slit like pit apertures and rarely distinctly bordered pits, parenchyma scanty paratracheal, vasicentric, aliform, confluent, diffuse, diffuse in aggregates and banded upto 1-11 cells wide. Rays uniseriate to multiseriate, multiseriate rays with 1-10 seriate. Body ray cells homogeneous to heterogeneous.

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