Pterocarpus indicus

This big tree grows in warm lands.

It has yellow or orange flowers. These flowers smell nice. Bees can find them for honey.

The tree has fruit with wings. The wind helps the fruit fly. This moves the seeds to new spots.

The wood is very strong. It smells like roses. People use it to make furniture.

This tree is special in the Philippines. It is their national tree. It is a very grand tree.

The Narra tree is a very large tree. It can grow 30 to 40 meters tall.

This tree grows in warm places like Southeast Asia. It is the national tree of the Philippines. Many Narra trees are now in danger of disappearing. It is already gone in Vietnam.

The tree has yellow or orange flowers. These flowers smell nice. They help make honey. The leaves can even be used as shampoo. They also have flavonoids. These are parts of the leaf that help people stay healthy.

The fruit of the tree has a flat wing. This wing helps the wind carry the seeds. The seeds stay inside the fruit for four to six years.

People love the wood from this tree. It smells like roses. It is hard to damage with termites. People use it to make furniture and musical instruments. In Indonesia, a special part of the tree is called amboyna. It is used to make pretty patterns for decoration.

Narra trees help the soil. They have tiny bumps on their roots. These bumps hold bacteria. The bacteria change nitrogen from the air into food for the tree.

Caption: A large Narra tree. Caption: A seed from the Narra tree.

The Narra tree is a huge and beautiful tree. It is known by many names like Malay padauk or Philippine mahogany.

This tree is native to many warm places. These include Southeast Asia and the islands of the western Pacific. It grows in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The Narra is very special to the Philippines. In 1934, Governor-General Frank Murphy named it the national tree. This happened through a special rule called Proclamation No. 652. Today, many of these trees face hard jobs to stay alive. They are extinct in Vietnam and might be gone in Sri Lanka too.

This tree has a very interesting way it works to grow. It is a leguminous plant, which means it helps the soil. The tree has small bumps on its roots called nodules. These nodules hold tiny bacteria. The bacteria take nitrogen from the air and turn it into food. This process helps keep the soil healthy and strong. The tree also makes its own seeds in a unique way. The fruit is a small pod with a flat wing. This wing acts like a sail. The wind catches the wing to carry the seed to a new place.

People have used this tree for a very long time. From the 16th to the 18th century, people in Europe used it for medicine. They called the wood infusion lignum nephriticum. This was used as a diuretic to help the body. The leaves also have something called flavonoids. These are parts of the leaf that act as antioxidants. They can help stop swelling or allergies in humans. Some people even use leaf infusions as shampoo. In the past, people even ate the flowers and the leaves. The flowers are a great source of honey for bees.

There are many facts about how the tree looks and grows. A mature tree can grow 30 to 40 meters tall. Its trunk can be up to 2 meters wide.

The flowers are yellow or orange-yellow and smell nice. They usually bloom from February to May in places like Borneo. The wood is very useful because it is hard and smells like roses. It is also resistant to termites, which are bugs that eat wood. In Indonesia, a part called the burl is called amboyna. People use this pretty wood to make furniture and musical instruments.

Learning about the Narra helps us see how trees connect to our world. These trees are often planted in parks or along roads for shade.

In Singapore, planners used them to make the city green. However, trees can face big problems like diseases. In 1985, a fungus called Fusarium oxysporum killed 1,400 trees. This fungus was carried by tiny beetles that bore into the wood. To fix this, people had to remove damaged trees and plant new ones. By studying these trees, we learn how to protect our forests and our cities.

Pterocarpus indicus is a large, deciduous tree species belonging to the Fabaceae family. It is known by many names, including narra, angsana, and Malay padauk. This tree is native to southeastern Asia, northern Australasia, and the western Pacific Ocean islands. It grows in diverse locations like Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Because of its beauty and strength, it holds great cultural value. In 1934, Governor-General Frank Murphy declared it the national tree of the Philippines through Proclamation No. 652.

The tree has a very specific way of interacting with its environment to stay healthy. As a leguminous plant, it performs nitrogen fixation. This happens through endosymbiotic relationships with specific bacteria. These bacteria live inside small bumps on the roots called nodules. The bacteria take atmospheric nitrogen and transform it into a form the plant can use for food. This process helps maintain soil stability and ecosystem fertility. This makes the tree a useful tool in agroforestry systems.

Physically, Pterocarpus indicus is a massive specimen. A mature tree can reach heights of 30 to 40 meters. The trunk can grow to a diameter of up to 2 meters. Its wide crown can spread between 12 and 34 meters. The leaves are pinnate, meaning they have a central stem with leaflets. These leaflets are typically 12 to 22 centimeters long. Most Pterocarpus species like seasonal weather, but P. indicus prefers rainforest environments.

The reproductive cycle of the tree involves colorful flowers and unique fruit. Between February and May in regions like Borneo, the tree produces fragrant flowers. These flowers grow in clusters called panicles, which can be 6 to 13 centimeters long. The petals are yellow or orange-yellow. After flowering, the tree produces a semiorbicular fruit pod. This pod is about 2 to 3 centimeters in diameter. It features a flat, membranaceous wing that is 4 to 6 centimeters wide. This wing helps the seed disperse by catching the wind. The pod takes 4 to 6 years to ripen and turns purple when dry.

Humanity has used various parts of this tree for centuries. The wood is a premium timber because it is rose-scented and resistant to termites. In Indonesia, the burl of the tree is known as amboyna. This material is often sliced into decorative veneers for furniture or marimba keys. Historically, the wood was used to create lignum nephriticum. This was a traditional diuretic used in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. The wood's reputation came from the fact that its infusions are fluorescent.

Beyond wood, the tree offers many medicinal and biological properties. The leaves contain flavonoids, which are antioxidants that provide anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic benefits. Some studies suggest these flavonoids may prevent kidney damage. In folk medicine, leaf infusions are used to combat tumors. This may be due to an acidic polypeptide that disrupts cell and nuclear membranes. Other uses include using leaf infusions as shampoo or using leaves to polish brass and copper. Even the flowers are used as a source of honey.

Despite its many uses, the species faces serious biological threats. Many populations are seriously threatened, and the tree is extinct in Vietnam. It may also be extinct in Sri Lanka and Peninsular Malaysia. In Singapore, the tree was used in a massive urban greening campaign from 1969 to 1982. However, in 1985, a disease called Angsana Wilt Disease killed 1,400 trees. This was caused by a fungal species named Fusarium oxysporum. The fungus was spread by wood-boring ambrosia beetles. To protect the remaining trees, experts monitor the area and plant disease-resistant varieties.