Chukrasia

Chukrasia tabularis, the Indian mahogany, is a deciduous tree, which is a monotypic genus in the family Meliaceae. It is native to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Also introduced to many western countries such as Cameroon, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and United States. The plant is widely used in Ayurveda as an important medicinal plant. The trees are tall with a cylindrical bole and spreading crown. C. velutina leaves are abruptly pinnate or bipinnate with leaflets that alternate or are subopposite, entire and unequal at the base. The erect, oblong flowers, which are rather large and born in terminal panicles, possess four to five petals. Mature fruits are a septifragally three to five valved capsule. The genus Chukrasia appears to be monotypic; 'C. velutina' (this species) is listed as the provincial flower and tree of Phrae Province, Thailand. Leaves of C. velutina contain quercetin and its 3-galactoside, galloyl glucoside, tannic acid and a flavone. The bark contains sitosterol, melianone, scopoletin, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, tetranorterpenes and tabularin. The wood contains bussein homologue and chukrasins A, B, C, D and F. The root contains a triterpene, cedrelone. Seeds contain tetranorterpenes, phragmalin esters and 12 α-OAc-phyramalin. Four new meliacin esters 3,30-diisobutyrates and 3-isobutyrate-30-propionates of phragmalin and 12-acetoxyphragmalin have also been isolated from seeds.