Sal

• Terai
• Siwalik (Chure)

Flowers inMarch, April

• 01Sal leaves are stitched into plates called tapari that are used at festivals and then simply thrown back to the soil.
• 02A sal forest can drop so many seeds in one week that the whole forest floor turns brown with them.

• Forest fires

  How serious4/5

  Sal seedlings grow slowly on the forest floor. A single dry-season fire can wipe out an entire year of young trees.

• Erratic monsoon

  How serious3/5

  Sal seeds lose the ability to sprout within a few weeks. If the rain arrives late, that whole generation of seeds is lost.

• Plant a tree that belongs here

  A native tree feeds local birds and insects in a way an imported one never can. Choose one that already grows wild near you.

• Save seeds

  Seeds are a plant’s way of sending itself into the future. Collecting and sharing them costs nothing at all.

Scientific name

Shorea robusta

Family

Dipterocarpaceae

Also called

Sakhuwa (Tharu)