CALOPHYLLUM INOPHYLLUM
Photo by Lauren Gutierrez
Palo Maria
Local Names: Daog or Daok (Guam); Dangkalan, Dinkalin, Bitaog, Bitanhol, Tamanian (Philippines); Palo Maria, Palo de Santa Maria (Spanish)
A tree usually growing near the shore. This tree is widely spread throughout Polynesia and occurs on the tropical shores of Asia, Africa, and Australia. It is often planted near habitations and is valued for its wood, for a aromatic gum which exudes from incisions made in its trunk and limbs, and for a medicinal oil obtained from its nuts.
When the leaves are put in water an oil rises to the surface. This is used in some parts of India as a remedy for sore eyes. In southern Polynesia and India the dark green fragrant oil expressed from the nuts, called dilo oil or domba oil, is used as a lamp oil and is an external remedy for bruises and rheumatic pains. The resin yielded by the trunk is one of the tacamahac gums of commerce.; it is agreeably aromatic, and is used as a scent by the Tahitians.
Its wood is hard, stong and cross-grained, and very hard to split. In Guam it is used for the solid wheels of the carts drawn by bullocks and carabo. It is durable in water, but is so rigid that it cannot be bent. In Samoa it is much used for building large canoes. Its strong crooked branches furnish excellent knees for boats, and are used also for stem and stern posts.
For more information, see Safford's Useful Plants of Guam, 2009 facsimile edition, pages 208-209.
Local Names: Daog or Daok (Guam); Dangkalan, Dinkalin, Bitaog, Bitanhol, Tamanian (Philippines); Palo Maria, Palo de Santa Maria (Spanish)
A tree usually growing near the shore. This tree is widely spread throughout Polynesia and occurs on the tropical shores of Asia, Africa, and Australia. It is often planted near habitations and is valued for its wood, for a aromatic gum which exudes from incisions made in its trunk and limbs, and for a medicinal oil obtained from its nuts.
When the leaves are put in water an oil rises to the surface. This is used in some parts of India as a remedy for sore eyes. In southern Polynesia and India the dark green fragrant oil expressed from the nuts, called dilo oil or domba oil, is used as a lamp oil and is an external remedy for bruises and rheumatic pains. The resin yielded by the trunk is one of the tacamahac gums of commerce.; it is agreeably aromatic, and is used as a scent by the Tahitians.
Its wood is hard, stong and cross-grained, and very hard to split. In Guam it is used for the solid wheels of the carts drawn by bullocks and carabo. It is durable in water, but is so rigid that it cannot be bent. In Samoa it is much used for building large canoes. Its strong crooked branches furnish excellent knees for boats, and are used also for stem and stern posts.
For more information, see Safford's Useful Plants of Guam, 2009 facsimile edition, pages 208-209.