Pterocarpus indicus

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.