General Information :

• It is a medium-sized, deciduous tree
• A dark-grey or yellowish-grey bark with minute tubercles.
• Leaves are simple, opposite, broad dark green in color.
• Flowers are white or greenish white and fragrant.
• Fruit is a berry orange red in color

Distribution :

• The species is indigenous to India and is distributed in moist deciduous forests throughout the tropical India.

Habitat : Grows wild on rich volcanic soils in lowland tropical rain forests.

Soil : It grows over lateritic, sandy, and alluvial soils.

Soil pH : 5.5-6

Altitude :750-1200 m(MSL)

Rainfall :700-1500mm

Temperature : 25-30ºC

Terrain : Plains/gentle slopes

Tree Characteristics : Deciduous ,fast growing,grow on any kind of soil provided there is sufficient water.

Habit : Deciduous tree

Natural Regeneration :

• Propagation is mainly done by seeds.

Artificial Regeneration :

• Propagated mainly by Nursery raised seedlings and cuttings.

Seed collection and Storage :

• Seeds are the best material for propagation of kuchila plant.
• The collected seeds are dried in the sun after removing the pulp.
• The plant can also be propagated through cuttings.

Seed Treatment :

• Hot water treatment for 6 hours

Nursery Technique :

• Seeds are directly sown in polybags of size 25 cm x 20 cm.
• The poly bags are watered regularly.
• The seeds germinate in about 20-10 days.

Plantation technique :

• Pits of size 45 cm3 are dug at a spacing of 5 m × 5 m, a stand of 400 trees per hectare and refilled with mixture of soil and manure in 1:1 ratio.

Care & Disease Control :

• Plantation should be kept weed free.
• During summer saplings may be irrigated on alternate days, especially in the early years of growth.

Recommended Harvest :

• 35 - 40 years

Yield :

• The seeds are collected December onwards when they mature.
• Fruits can be harvested periodically for many years.
• A crop stand of 400 plants per hectare and average produce range of 50–75 kg of dry seeds per tree per year, a yield of 12–20 tonnes/hectare is estimated from a 20-yearold plantation annually.

Agro Forestory :

The plant can be grown as a pure crop or herbaceous crops can be grown with it as intercrops after the first year.

Major uses :

• Dried seeds of kuchila are nervine, stomachic, and cardio-tonic, aphrodisiac, and respiratory stimulant.
• It is used as a remedy in chronic dysentery, paralytic and neuralgic disorders, epilepsy, rheumatic arthritis, and hydrophobia.
• It is an important drug in all systems of medicine.

Other uses :

Therapeutic usesDried seeds of kuchila are nervine, stomachic, and cardio-tonic, aphrodisiac, and respiratory stimulant. It is used as a remedy in chronic dysentery, paralytic and neuralgic disorders, epilepsy, rheumatic arthritis, and hydrophobia. In excessive doses, Strychnos is a virulent poison, producing stiffness of muscles and convulsions, ultimately leading to death. It is an important drug in all systems of medicine