Toon, Indian cedar, Toona ciliata

Toon or Indian cedar (Toona ciliata, family: Meliaceae) is a medium-sized fast growing deciduous tree with large branches. The tree from the Mahogany family is found throughout South and southeast Asia and Australia. 

Common names: Toon, Toona, Red cedar, Indian cedar, Indian mahogany.

Leaves are compound (10-14 pairs of leaflets), lanceolate with sharp end. Leaflet is 5-25 cm long and 3-5 cm wide with slightly wavy edges.

Flowers are small, tubularin-shaped, white and terminal. There are orange-red gland at the centre of every flower. Flowers are pentamerous, bisexual. Flower blooms in February-March.

The fruit is a capsule. Seed has five wings.

Leaf, bark, stem, fruit are used in bronchitis, gastric troubles, dysentery, burning sensation, headache and leucoderma. Powder of bark is used for dysentery and fever. A kind of mixture red in color is prepared from its flower and used to color thread. Leaves are used as fodder.

The propagation of the plant is caused by seeds and cuttings. For its spreading crown, toona ciliata is planted as an ornamental tree in Bangladesh.