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Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo)- also known as Indian Rosewood- is a semi temperate hardwood of the teak family. The grain is similar to teak in appearance and can be stained,polished,waxed or sealed as required to produce excellent cabinetry and furniture.After teak, it is the most important cultivated timber tree in India, planted on roadsides, and as a shade tree for tea plantations.It also is used for plywood, agricultural, and musical instruments, skis, carvings, boats, floorings, etc.The young branches and foliage are eaten by livestock and the roots and the knotted sections made into charcoal.
This furniture is made from kiln dried sheesham and is garaunteed not to crack,warp or twist
if mantained correctly and will last a lifetime.Our inventory at this time is mainly coffee tables, hall tables , lamp tables and dining tables with chairs to match in a variety of sizes,styles and finishes.There are also cabinets,wineracks,entertainment units,buffets,beds and more to come. We will update this information regularly.
Dalbergia sissoo
Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. ex DC.
Fabaceae
Sisu, Sissoo, Indian rosewood
Source: James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. unpublished.
Uses
Timber tree, the young branches and foliage eaten by livestock. After teak, it
is the most important cultivated timber tree in India, planted on roadsides, and
as a shade tree for tea plantations. Sissoo makes first class cabinetry and
furniture. It is used for plywood, agricultural, and musical instruments, skis,
carvings, boats, floorings, etc. The leaves are used for fodder. In the U.S.
(Arizona, Florida) it is said to be one of the most desirable shade trees for
streets and backyards. It is grown in the sewage-irrigated greenbelt.
Shisham wood is prized for its naturally dark heartwood and contrasting layers of lighter new growth. Shisham wood was exported from the Indus Valley to ancient Mesopotamia and is referred to in Sumerian and Akkadian texts as "sisoo" wood.
Read on for more details if that wasn't enough.
Folk Medicine
Reported to be stimulant, sissoo is a folk remedy for excoriations, gonorrhea,
and skin ailments (Duke and Wain, 1981). Ayurvedics prescribe the leaf juice for
eye ailments, considering the wood and bark abortifacient, anthelmintic,
antipyretic, apertif, aphrodisiac, expectorant, and refrigerant. They use the
wood and bark for anal disorders, blood diseases, burning sensations, dysentery,
dyspepsia, leucoderma, and skin ailments. Yunani use the wood for blood disorders, burning sensations, eye and nose disorders, scabies, scalding urine,
stomach problems, and syphilis. The alterative wood is used in India for boils, eruptions, leprosy and nausea (Kirtikar and Basu, 1975).
Chemistry
Per 100 g, the leaves contain on a zero-moisture basis 12.6-24.1 g protein,
2.0-4.9 g fat, 42.1-54.8 g N-free extract, 12.5-26.1 g fiber, 6.6-12.0 g ash,
840-2870 mg Ca, 120-420 mg P. On a dry basis, the silage contain 14.0% CP 3.6% EE, 30.0% CF, and 34.1% NFE. Fresh leaves from Nigeria contained (ZMB) 21.8% CP,
15.6 g CF, 8.7 g ash, 3.6 g EE, 50.3 g NFE,1,180 mg Ca, and 250 mg P per 100 g (Gohl, 1981). Pods contain 2% tannin.
Description
Tree 15-35 m tall, deciduous, the sometimes >2m, the clearbole up to 12 m, more often with crooked trunk and light crown. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, the
leaflets 3-5, alternate, orbicular, abruptly acuminate, puberulous but glabrescent, 3.5-6.5 cm long, not quite so broad. Flowers sessile, or
short-stalked in axillary panicles shorter than the leaves. Sepals 4-5 mm long, pubescent, the lobes short. Petals yellow, 6-8 mm long. Ovary pubescent; ovules
2-4. Pods to 10 cm long, 1.5 cm broad, the stipe longer than the calyx. Seeds 1-4.
Germplasm
Reported from the Hindustani Center of Diversity, sissoo, or cvs thereof, is
reported to tolerate disease, drought, frost, insects, porous soils, salt, sand,
savanna, sewage, and wind. On clay soils the growth is stunted. (2n = 20)
Distribution
Indigenous to India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the tree is now widely planted in the
tropics. Said to be escaping from cultivation in tropical Florida. It is grown
at Cayey, El Verde, and Guayabol in Puerto Rico.
Ecology
Ranging from sealevel to >1500 m, it can stand temperatures from below freezing to nearly 50°C. Apparently adapted to savanna woodlands where annual rainfall is
7-20 dm with droughts of 3-4 months duration (NAS, 1979). Sometimes gregarious in alluvial forests along the rivers of the subhimalayan tract
(C.S.I.R., 1948-1976). Ranging from Subtropical Thorn to Moist through Tropical Dry to
Moist Forest Life Zones, sissoo is expected to tolerate annual precipitation of 6 to 40 dm, annual temperature of 21 to 28°C, and pH of 6-8.
Cultivation
Directly sown seed attain 15-25 cm after the first rains, 90-120 cm after the
second rains in India. For seedling transplantation, only tender plants with
small taproots should be used. Root suckers transplant satisfactorily in dry
climates. Planting should be in spring (March in India). Raising of monocultural
sissoo is discouraged. Stump planting is widely employed in irrigated
plantations in India. Trenches are dug ca 1.5 m apart, earth thrown a little
away from the trenches and the berms used for sowing seed or pod segments.
Sowing is done on both sides of the trenches, between middle March and middle June, earlier sowing being preferred. Plants are big enough by the beginning of
the next season to yield stumps. Plants are pulled out and stems and roots chopped off leaving 3-5 cm of the former and 22-35 m of the latter; ther lateral
roots are also removed. Stumps thicker than 2.5 cm and thinner than 2 cm diam. at the collar are rejected. The yield of stumps is 160,000 per ha. For transport
over long distances, stumps are made into bundles, wrapped in leaves or grass, sprinkled with water, and carried in gunny bags. Stumps are planted in spring,
not earlier than the third week of March, perhaps April. In no case should it be
put off to August. Where subsoil water is low or rainfall poor and uncertain, irrigation is essential. Stumps are planted along trenches or on berms of pits
and the field is irrigated. Shallow and frequent irrigation or constant flooding
is harmful and induces superficial root formation. Depending upon the weather and the condition of plants, 10-15 irrigations are adequate in the first season
and 4-6 in the second. Under proper irrigation, sissoo roots tap the subsoil water within 2 years. Irrigation in later years is required only for
supplementing subsoil water supplies.
Harvesting
Trees may be grazed or cut as needed. Young trees coppice vigorously and
reproduce vigorously from suckers.
Yields and Economics
According to the Wealth of India, irrigated plantations yield fair quantities of
timber and high returns of fuel. In irrigated plantations trees may attain a
girth of 1.2 m in ca 25 years. A height of 7 m has been reported in 20 months.
Based on studies of 40 natural riverine sites, it was concluded that 10 year
stands yield about 10 m3/ha, 20 year ca 100 m3/ha (5m3/ha/yr), 30 year old
stands ca 210 m3/ha (7 m3/ha/yr), 40 year old stands ca 2 80 m3/ha (7 m3/ha/yr),
50 year old stands 370 m3/ha (7.5 m3/ha/yr), and 60 year old stands 460 m3/ha ca 7.5 m3ha/yr) (C.S.I.R., 1948-1976). Pakistan has more than 100,000 ha of
sissoo plantation.
Energy
The calorific value of the sapwood is 4,908 calories or 8,835 Btu, the heartwood
5,191 calories or 9,326 Btu (probably per cu. ft., but not specified in WOI). The wood is an excellent fuel, eminently suitable for making charcoal. Heartwood
yields 5.35% of an oil which, on cooling, approaches the texture of vaseline. It
is suitable as a lubricant for heavy machinery.
Biotic Factors
Roots are said to be so astringent as not to be eaten by ants or rodents, at
least rats. Browne (1968) lists: Fungi. Auricularia auricula-judae,
Colletoglocum sissoo, Diplodia dalbergiae, Fomes durissimus, Fomes robiniae,
Fusarium oxysporum, Ganoderma applanatum, Ganoderma lucidum, Hypoxylon
hypomiltum, Hypoxylon investiens, Hypoxylon rubiginosum, Irpex flavus, Marasmius
equierinis, Maravalia achroa, Meliola bicornis, Mycosphaerella dalbergiae, Nectria haematococca, Phellinus gilvus, Phyllachora dalbergiae, Phyllachora
spissa, Phyllactinia guttata, Phyllosticta sissoo, Polysporus anebus, Poria
ambigua, Rosellinia aquila, Schizophyllum commune, Thanatephorus cucumeris, Trametes corrugata, Uredo sissoo. Angiospermae. Cuscuta reflexa, Dendrophthoe
falcata, Loranthus pulverulentus, Tapinanthus dodoneifolius, Tapinanthus sp., Tolypanthus involucratus. Coleoptera. Adoretus caliginosus, Amblyrrhinus
poricollis, Anomala dalbergiae, Apate monachus, Apate terebrans, Apoderus
blandus, Apoderus sissu, Aulacophora foveicollis, Batocera rufomaculata, Bruchus
pisorum, Dorysthenes hugeli, Gonocephalum depressum, Halyzia sanscrita, Illeis
cincta, Mimastra cyanura, Myllocerus blandus, Myllocerus cardoni, Myllocerus discolor, Myllocerus lefroyi, Myllocerus sabulosus, Myllocerus setulifer,
Myllocerus transmarinus, Myllocerus undecimpustulatus, Perissus dalbergiae, Platymycterus sjoestedti, Rhinyptia indica, Sinoxylon anale, Tanymecus hispidus.
Hemiptera. Acaudaleyrodes rachipora, Aleurolobus marlatti, Aonidiella orientalis, Aspidoproctus bifurcatus, Atelocera stictica, Dialeuropora
decempuncta, Drosicha dalbergiae, Drosicha mangiferae, Drosicha octocaudata, Drosicha stebbingi, Gargara mixta, Gargara varicolor, Hemaspidoproctus cinerea,
Hemiberlesia lataniae, Kerria lacca, Myzus persicae, Nipaecoccus vastator, Oxyrhachis formidabilis, Oxyrhachis mangiferana, Toxoptera aurantii. Isoptera.
Bifiditermes beesoni. Lepidoptera. Anomis sabulifera, Archips micaceanus,
Ascotis selenaria, Bucculatrix mendax, Buzura suppressaria, Caloptilia
tetratypa, Charaxes fabius, Cladobrostis melitricha, Cusiala raptaria, Cydia
jaculatrix, Dasychira dalbergiae, Dasychira mendosa, Dichomeris eridantis,
Eresia hylas, Euproctis scintillans, Euproctis sulphurescens, Euproctis
virguncula, Hamodes propitia, Heliothis zea, Hypena iconicalis, Hypoglaucitis
benenotata, Hyposidra talaca, Leucoptera stenograpta, Pandesma anysa, Philodoria
laeta, Plecoptera ferrilineata, Plecoptera reflexa, Sataspes scotti, Thosea
cana, Trichoplusia orichalcea. Orthoptera. Brachytrupes portentosus, Chrotogonus
spp., Gymnogryllus erythrocephalus, Gymnogryllus humeralis, Kraussaria
angulifera, Schistocerca gregaria. Mammalia. Bos taurus, Ovis aries, Presbytis
entellus. Nematoda. Meloidogyne javanica. The tree is sometimes killed by
mistletoe. Fusarium wilt is often fatal in India, especially in monoculture, or
in polyculture with other susceptible species (C.S.I.R., 1948-1976).
References
Browne, F.G. 1968. Pests and diseases of forest plantations trees. Clarendon
Press, Oxford.
C.S.I.R. (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research). 1948-1976. The
wealth of India. 11 vols. New Delhi.
Duke, J.A. and Wain, K.K. 1981. Medicinal plants of the world. Computer index
with more than 85,000 entries. 3 vols.
Gohl, B. 1981. Tropical feeds. Feed information summaries and nutritive
values. FAO Animal Production and Health Series 12. FAO, Rome.
Kirtikar, K.R. and Basu, B.D. 1975. Indian medicinal plants. 4 vols. 2nd ed.
Jayyed Press, New Delhi.
N.A.S. 1979. Tropical legumes: resources for the future. National Academy of
Sciences, Washington, DC.
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