Botanical Name - Saccopetalum tomentosum

----- Saccopetalum, Bennet.; F.B.I. I-88. S. tomentosum, Hook. f. and Thoms.; F.B.I. I-88. Brandi's Ind. Trees, 11. Gamble's Ind. Timbers, 22. Vern. Chilka-dudi, Nalla Chilka-dudi, Bara-dudi, Tel.

----- A large deciduous tree with a straight stem. Bark light to dark brown, sometimes black, deeply cracked. Leaves alternate, entire, stipulate; blade 4-6 by 2 1/2-3 in., sometimes glabrous when old, pale beneath; petiole 1/4 in. Flowers axillary, bi-sexual, solitary or fascicled in pairs, appearing with the leaves in short leafy branchex; peduncles 2-3 in. slender, downy. Sepals 3, small, valvate. Petals 6, valvate in 2 series; outer small like the sepals; inner much larger erect or conniving; base saccate. Sepals and outer petals 1/6 in; inner petals 2/3 in., oblong, obtuse, downy. Stamens indefinite; anther-cells dorsal, contiguous; connective produced into conspicuous appendage. Ovaries indefinite; ovules 6 or more. Ripe carpels subglobose, 1 in. diam., purple, 3-4-seeded; stalk 1/2 in.

----- more or less common throughout the Telangana Forests. Wood yellow or olive-brown, moderately hard, smooth, close grained, no heartwood. It is much in demand for building huts and sheds. Flowers and young leaves in April. Fruit June. It coppices well.