Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.
| Kannada Name : | Agaru, Kaaragilu |
| Common Name : | Agar wood, Malayan eagle-wood |
| Family Name : | Thymelaeaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Aquilaria malaccensis |
| Species Type : | Indigenous |
| Phenology : | Evergreen |
| Conservation Status : | Critically endangered |
| Flowering Period : | April - June |
| Fruiting Period : | April - September |
| Origin : | Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Thailand |
Uses
It is a major source of agar wood resin that is used for perfume and incense. The resin is produced when the tree is infected by a parasitic fungus, Phaeoacremonium parasitica. The incense is used against cancer in Western, Chinese, and Indian medicine.
Description
Evergreen tree up to 40 m tall with an irregular crown. Peeling outer bark dark to pale grey, inner bark cream-white. Leaves simple, alternate, oval-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, thin and leathery, acuminate. Inflorescence in clusters of 10. Flower dirty yellow, 5-6 mm long. Fruit green and flattened, woody when ripe. Seeds pear shaped covered with orange-brown hairs, attached to fruit with a twisted appendage.
