Pokok Nagasari

 

Ini adalah merupakan pokok kayu Nagasari yg begitu popular di Indonesia dan di Malaysia dikenali sebagai Pokok Penaga

 

 

Mesua ferrea (Ceylon ironwood, Indian rose chestnut, or Cobra's saffron), is a species in the family Calophyllaceae. This slow-growing tree is named after the heaviness and hardness of its timber. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental due to its graceful shape, grayish-green foliage with a beautiful pink to red flush of drooping young leaves, and large, fragrant white flowers. It is native to wet, tropical parts of Sri Lanka, India, southern Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Indochina, the Philippines, Malaysia and Sumatra, where it grows in evergreen forests, especially in river valleys. In the eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats in India it grows up to altitudes of 1500 meters, while in Sri Lanka up to 1000 meters.^[

 

As the English name indicates, the wood of this tree is very heavy, hard and strong. The density is 940 to 1,195 kg/m³ (59 to 75 lb/ft³) at 15% moisture content. The colour is deep dark red. It is hard to saw and is mainly used for railroad ties and heavy structural timber. ^[4] In Sri Lanka the pillars of the 14th century Embekke Shrine near Kandy are made of iron tree wood.^[5]
The flowers, leaves, seeds and roots have medicinal properties and are used as herbal medicines in India, Malaysia, etc. ^[6] and in Nag Champa incence sticks

 

 

Bunga Nagasari