Sal

Shorea robusta, the sal tree, also called shala, sakhua or sarai, is a tree of the Dipterocarpaceae family native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and the Himalayan regions. It grows up to 40 metres tall, is evergreen in wetter areas and dry-season deciduous in drier ones, and is the state tree of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The page calls it one of the most important sources of hardwood timber in India, with resinous, durable wood. The dry leaves are made into leaf plates and bowls, the seeds and fruit give lamp oil and vegetable fat, and the resin, known as sal dammar or Indian dammar, is used as an astringent in Ayurvedic medicine, burned as incense in Hindu ceremonies and used to caulk boats. In Hindu tradition the tree is sacred and associated with Vishnu. Buddhist tradition holds that Queen Maya gave birth to the Buddha while grasping a sal branch, and that the Buddha died lying between two sal trees.