Manilkara hexandra
Palai, Palu or Khirni
- Also called Ceylon ironwood, Khirni, Milk tree
- Tamil Palai / Paalai (பாலை), Ulakkaippalai (உலக்கைப்பாலை)
- Sinhala Palu (පලු)
- Hindi Khirni (खिरनी), Rayan (रायन)
- Telugu Pala pandlu (పాలపండ్లు)
- Gujarati Rayan (રાયણ)
- Marathi Khirni (खिरणी)
Slow-growing evergreen tree, 12 to 25 m
What it is
Manilkara hexandra is a slow-growing evergreen tree of the sapota family, with grey, deeply furrowed bark and milky sap. Its glossy, wedge-shaped leaves crowd towards the branch tips. Small whitish flowers are followed by small oval berries that turn yellow and sweet when ripe. It grows wild in dry forests from India and Sri Lanka to Indochina and southern China, and is a main canopy tree of Sri Lanka's dry zone.
What it's used for
- The sweet yellow fruits, sold as khirni, are eaten fresh, and in Sri Lanka sloth bears feast on palu fruit in season.
- Its very hard, heavy, durable red wood has been used for beams, posts, piles and railway sleepers.
- It is used as a hardy rootstock for grafting sapota (chikoo).
Where we plant it
Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
Sadhana Forest, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India
Plant trees in this projectOur partners plant the mix of native species that suits each site and season, so a gift plants trees in the project rather than this one species. Manilkara hexandra is one of the species planted there.
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See all 37 species in Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
