Sal / The Sal
Shorea robusta
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- March-June
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Shorea robusta
- Genus
- Shorea
- Family
- Dipterocarpaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Deciduous and Sal forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Native to
- Indian subcontinent
- Distribution
- India, Bhutan, Nepal
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu
- Flowering & fruiting
- March-June
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Ovate (egg-shaped, broad at base)recorded
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sal itself; the rest are typical of the Dipterocarpaceae family.
Local Names
- Hindi
- साल Sal, Salwa, Sakhu, shal
- Nepali
- अग्राख Agraakh, साल Saal, सखुवा Sakhuwaa
- Bengali
- Sal, শাল
- Tamil
- attam, venkungiliyam, kungiliyam
- Telugu
- గుగ్గిలం కలప చెట్టు
- Kannada
- ಬಿಳಿಬೋವು Bilibovu, ಬಿಳಿಬೋಗಿ Bilibogi, ಸಾಲ Saala
- Malayalam
- karimaruthu, kungiliyam, maramaram
- Marathi
- sal, guggilu, rala, साल
- Sanskrit
- zala
About Sal
The Sal (Shorea robusta) belongs to the Dipterocarpaceae family, where it grows as a tree. In India it has been recorded in Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and 13 other states. It grows in deciduous and Sal forests. Flowering and fruiting run from March to June.
Uses
In practice it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and cut for timber and furniture. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
In culture
It is treated as sacred and appears in worship and is used as an official or regional emblem.
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarp/Sal family
Sal belongs to the Dipterocarpaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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