Ceylon Iron Wood / Khirni

Manilkara hexandra

Hindi: Khirni

A slow growing evergreen (with lifespan of hundreds of years) stiff tree with shinny and leathery leaves, which tend to crown towards end of the branches, forming a dense and spreading canopy.

Leaf: 5-13 cm long, shiny, and stiff and leathery, rounded and often notched at the tip. The veins are fine straight and parallel. The short lef0stalk is often channeled.

Flower: Small, (6 mm wide), creamy or white with minute petals (usually eighteen) arranged in two circles

Fruit: Yellow berry, olive-sized, sometimes tinged with red when ripe, edible.

Season: Flowers in Jan, fruits ripen in Apr-May

Range/habitat: Within India, Gujrat, Central India (Satpura Range and sightly north), the deccan, western part of West Bengal. Range extends to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. A very adaptable species - remains shrubby in dry rocky zone, but in favorable conditions grows to magnificent proportions with a short thick bole and large spreading crown.

Trivia and notes: Khirni belongs to same family as sapota and often used as a root stock to grow select variety of sapota. Walking stick made from khirni wood is prized above all others.

Where to Find: There is one khirni tree in Rabindra Sarobar, Kolkata, in between the lake side path and the tar road, near Ashok Malhotra cricket academy. GPS: 22.50855, 88.35043