The Not-So-Common Trees - Muchkund Tree
A rare sight
The muchkund tree, as Pterospermum suberifolium is known in Sanskrit, is a moderate-sized, pretty tree with smooth greyish bark. The younger parts of the tree are covered by felty, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are oblong in shape and leathery in texture. They have a silvery tomentum on their undersides. The fruit is longer than broad, tapering at both ends. It is of a type called capsule, since it breaks open into its five chambers and as it dehisces, releases seeds that are winged at their free ends.
The tree's first name, Pterospermum, refers to the winged seeds, while its second name, suberifolium, refers to the suberised tomentum seen on the underside of the leaves.
Called tada in Tamil, the tree is almost scarce in Chennai. Years ago, I saw a well-grown muchkund tree in what was then the Agri-Horticultural Gardens where now you have the Drive-in Restaurant of the New Woodlands Group of Hotels.
If it is still surviving, you should find it in the corner where the road curves leading to Anna Salai, near the southern end of Anna Flyover. A friend of mine tells me there is one in the Pachaiyappa's College campus too.
There is so little to write home about this tree: even its light red wood is seldom put to any use. But there is nothing in Nature that is totally useless. I understand the flowers serve to relieve headaches.
