Devil Tree (Alstonia scholaris)

October 20, 2007 — Vasant M. Salian

Devil Tree (Alstonia scholaris) is an evergreen, tropical tree native to the Indian subcontinent and South-east Asia. Its is commonly known as the Devil Tree, as it is considered to be the abode of the devil, in popular imagination. In October small, green yet fragrant flowers appear. All parts of the tree can be considered poisonous.

It is a tall elegant tree with greyish rough bark. Branches are whorled, and so are the leaves, that is, several of them coming out of the same point. The tree is really elegant whether it is flowering or not. The slightly rounded, leathery, dark green leaves form whorls of 4-7. And a very regular branching gives the tree a beautiful shape. The wood is too soft for making anything - so it is usually used in making packing boxes, blackboards, etc. Its bark, known as Dita Bark, is used in traditional medicine to treat dysentery and fever. On the Western Ghats, tribal people are reluctant to sit or pass under this tree, for the fear of the devil.

Devil treeTaxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Gentianales
Family : Apocynaceae
Tribe : Plumeriae
Subtribe : Alstoniinae
Genus : Alstonia
Species : Alstonia scholaris

Pronunciation/Meaning:

  • Apocynaceae (a-pos-ih-NAY-see-ay) - Family name for the dogbane family; from the Greek apo (away from or away with) and kuon (dog).
  • Alstonia (al-STON-ee-uh) - Named for Dr. Charles Alston, 18th century Scottish Professor of Botany at Edinburgh.
  • scholaris (skol-lay-riss) - Of school, its wood were traditionally used for making wooden slates, blackboard.

Common Names:

  • Devil Tree, Blackboard Tree, Indian Devil Tree, Dita Bark Tree, Milkwood Pine, White Cheesewood, Alstonia, Australian Quinine Bark Tree, Bitter-bark Tree, Chatiyan Wood (English)
  • Saptaparna (Sanskrit)
  • Shaitan ka jhar, Chitvan (Hindi)
  • Satvin (Marathi)
  • Mukumpalai, Ezilai pillai, Palegaruda (Tamil)
  • Daivappala (Malayalam)
  • Doddapala, Janthaila (Kannada)
  • Edakulayaraticettu, Saptavarnamu (Telugu)
  • Chattim (Bengali)

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