Toon / Sandal Neem
Toona ciliata
Also known as Toon Tree, Red Cedar, Moulmin Cedar, The Toon Tree, Indian Mahogany Tree, Australian Redcendar
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand & more
- Flowering
- March-October
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Toona ciliata
- Genus
- Toona
- Family
- Meliaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Semi-evergreen and Evergreen forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Australia, Africa
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Assam
- Flowering & fruiting
- March-October
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Meliaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
Typical of the Meliaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Toon तून,टुन tun
- Nepali
- टुनी Tunee, टुनी
- Bengali
- Tun
- Tamil
- துந் மரம் Tun Maram
- Telugu
- నందివృక్షము, నంది వృక్షము, నందిచెట్టు
- Kannada
- ಗಂಧಗರಿಗೆ Gandhagarige, ಗಂಧಗರಗೆ Gandhagarage, ನೊಗೆ Noge
- Malayalam
- Vempu, ചന്ദനവേമ്പ്, Toona ciliata
- Marathi
- Kunant
Toon in India
This deciduous tree, known as Toon तून (Hindi), துந் மரம் Tun Maram (Tamil), నందివృక్షము (Telugu), ಗಂಧಗರಿಗೆ Gandhagarige (Kannada), Vempu (Malayalam), Kunant (Marathi), is valued for its reddish, easily worked timber. Toona ciliata is found across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Assam, typically in moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forest.
Uses
Its reddish, fine-grained wood — sometimes called Indian mahogany — is used for furniture, plywood and carving, and the tree is also planted for shade and timber plantations.
How to Identify Toon
A tall deciduous tree with large pinnate compound leaves clustered near the branch tips. Small, fragrant, pale flowers hang in loose drooping clusters, followed by woody capsules that split into several parts, releasing winged seeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Sandal Neem called in different Indian languages?
- Toon तून (Hindi); துந் மரம் Tun Maram (Tamil); నందివృక్షము (Telugu); ಗಂಧಗರಿಗೆ Gandhagarige (Kannada); Vempu (Malayalam); Kunant (Marathi); Tun (Bengali).
- Is toon wood the same as mahogany?
- No — toon (Toona ciliata) is sometimes called Indian mahogany for its reddish, similarly workable wood, but it's a different genus from true mahogany (Swietenia).
- Why does it lose its leaves?
- It's deciduous, shedding its leaves during the dry season before flushing new pinnate foliage at the start of the rains.
Meliaceae
Mahogany/Neem family
Toon belongs to the Meliaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Meliaceae family →Snap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
All plant problem & care guides →More in Meliaceae
View all Meliaceae →Sources: GBIF — Toona ciliata (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Toona ciliata (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)