Anjan is an Indian tree called Hardwickia binata. It grows about 25 to 30 m tall.
It is a small to large tree with branches that hang down. The tree’s bark is a grayish brown color with deep cracks and gets darker as it ages.
Anjan wood is the hardest, heaviest, and most durable. It is easy to work with, and resistant to termite attacks.
Summers in the area where Anjan tree grows are hot and dry, and the drought lasts for a long time. Summers are also characterized by intense sunlight and a lot of heat.
Anjan tree grows well in different types of soil, such as sandstone, quartzite, schist, gneiss, gravel, and areas with deep rocks under the ground.
Anjan is sold under other names
Commercially in trade, it is called Indian Black wood or Anjan.
Aesthetics
If you look at the net benefit of these systems in a rural setting, you can see that they have many uses, such as forage, top feed, fuelwood, small amounts of timber, and sometimes cash crops.
Trees’ growth improves the local climate and makes the area look better. Farms also grow trees for their beauty and to provide shade and shelter for people and animals.
Geography
It is a tree that can thrive in sandy, shallow soil and flourishes in dry deciduous forests.
In India, it lives in the western Himalayas up to an altitude of 1500 m and in dry, open forests in the central and southern parts of the country.
In southern India, it grows in places like Kadapa, Nellore, Ceded, and the valleys of the Cauvery and Bhavani rivers.
People have said that it grows in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, in addition to India.
Maintenance
The reaction wood is made when physical stress is put on the tree. There are two kinds of wood: compression wood and tension wood.
The process of drying out wood is called “seasoning.” There are two methods: by air or in a kiln. They can be put on by spraying, soaking, or applying pressure.
Sustainability
This wood species is neither on the CITES Appendices nor the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; hence it is not considered endangered.
Is Anjan hard or softwood
Wood type: hardwood.
Anjan is most likely India’s heaviest and sturdiest wood.
Indian blackwood, also called Anjan, is a hardwood tree that grows in low-rainfall areas of India’s interior.
It is most common in the dry, open woodlands and savanna forests of the Deccan and Central highlands, which cover a large part of the subcontinent.
Anjan wood stain
It dries quickly and doesn’t break down much, but it needs to be protected from blue stains caused by tiny fungi that often grow in the sapwood of trees.
Wood identification
The Hardwickia binata tree can grow between 9 and 30 m tall. It is a medium-sized to a large tree.
Its bole is both straight and round, and the length of a clean bole is between 7 m and 15 m. When trees are young, the stem bark is grayish and smooth. When trees are full grown, the bark is dark grey and cracked.
At the beginning of a tree’s growth, the crown is in the shape of a cone. As a tree gets older, the crown spreads outwards. It has thin branches with lush green leaves that hang down.
It has small yellowish-green hermaphrodite flowers that grow in axillary or terminal panicle racemes.
The seeds are flat, brown, and don’t have an endosperm. One end is pointed and sub-reniform, and the other end is round.
Color and appearance
The heartwood is dark brown to almost black. Sapwood is thin and has a white color.
Its heartwood is a dark reddish brown, and some people have seen streaks in it. The sapwood is a pale white color.
Because heartwood and sapwood are different colors, it is easy to tell them apart.
Endgrain
The growth rings are clear and separated by axial parenchyma lines that are one to several cells wide.
Vessels are scattered, single (22–100%), and in radial multiples of 2-3, sometimes up to 6. They are round to oval and 6–9 (3–13) per square mm. The diameter of the vessels is 77–108 (12–173) mm.
Vessel element length: 137 (60-217) mm: It’s easy to make holes. Intervascular pits are alternating, covered, round to oval, and sometimes have overlapping holes that are 2 to 5 mm.
There are often reddish-brown deposits.
Flower
The yellow-green flowers of the Anjan grow in loose clusters at the ends of the branches.
They are very small or not very important. Anjan flower bloom in their native range, and Anjan flower bloom at the start of the rainy season and when new leaves grow.
They are followed by flat seedpods with wings and a single seed that the wind can spread.
When they are ready, they turn brown and fall off the tree to float away, sometimes for a long way.
Fruit
The Anjan fruits are short, flat pods about 6 cm long and have a single seed on end.
The fruit is a samaroid pod that is stap-shaped and tapered at both ends. It is glabrous, long, narrow, coriaceous, and tapered at both ends. After the flowers die, the fruit comes out and stays until May.
The seed has a fairly hard testa, is exalbuminous, flat, sub-reniform, slightly curved, pointy at one end and round at the other, and measures about 2 cm long by 0.75 cm wide.
The tiny, white, or greenish-yellow flowers aren’t very noticeable and are easy to miss.
Grain and texture
Interlocked grain. Close grain.
Leaves
The leaves of the Anjan plant are leathery, grayish green, small, reniform, compound, bifoliolate, paripinnate, 2–6 cm long, and 2–3 cm wide.
It has been seen that mature leaves fall off at the end of March and come back in April.
So, the tree stays without leaves for a very short time. During April and May, the parts of its branches that haven’t turned into wood also fall off.
This is a way for the tree to protect itself from heat damage since the parts that haven’t turned into the wood are more sensitive to heat.
Its leaves are healthy, tasty, and full of essential minerals and protein. Its leaves are better for goats to eat than grass, and they can get all the nutrients they need from those leaves alone.
Odor
No characteristic odor.
Tree
Tree Size: 50-80 ft (15-25 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter.
When a tree is young, its crown is conical, but as it grows older, it spreads out laterally. Its branches are thin, and the rich, green foliage hangs down from them.
The tree thrives on sandstone, conglomerate, quartzite, granite, and schist, with sandy loam or, more typically, a quartzose reddish gravelly sand as the overlaying soil.
The tree can establish itself and flourish on dry, rocky, shallow soil, where most other species would perish, and it does well in dry climates. Young trees can tolerate some shade, though they can even need artificial shading.
If cut 1 or 2 meters above the ground, ancient trees produce vigorous pollard shoots, but if cut flush with the ground, they don’t develop coppice shoots, and old pollards that are taken down at ground level never coppice.
Anjan wood bark
The stem bark is smooth and grayish during the sapling stage, turning dark grey and fissured in fully grown trees.
The tannins in the bark make it astringent. It is used to cure leprosy, worms, diarrhea, and indigestion.
Bark has been found to have a good capacity for adsorbing mercury. Under specific circumstances, a modification of the bark is beneficial for removing most mercury from water.
Making ropes from tree bark is a common practice.
The bark of the Anjan wood tree has been shown to have therapeutic qualities, and an extract of the tree’s leaves has been identified as a possible antifungal and antibacterial agent.
Anjan wood’s pros and cons
Anjan wood is a premium hardwood from India. The best thing about Anjan wood is that it is resistant to insects, warping, and splintering. It also has an amazingly natural look.
On our blog, you will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of Anjan wood and find out why this type of wood is best for your home.
Strength and Durability
Its wood has been classified as class I timber because of being very hard & heavy. Janka Hardness: 6490 Newton, density: 0.73, dried weight 745kg/m3 @ 12 % moisture content.
Anjan wood is moderately durable and strong. Moreover, wood is highly decaying as well as termite attack resistant.
Due to its durability and heaviness, it is utilized in constructing houses, bridges, beams, agricultural implements, sleepers, sleepers, etc. Resistance to rotting Very durable.
Allergies and toxicity
No additional health issues have been connected to Anjan besides the usual dangers of breathing wood dust.
Water resistance
Anjan wood is naturally water-resistance.
Workability
High cutting resistance. Good dimensional stability in regards to flatness, though it can split or check.
Anjan wood uses
This post will give you some interesting facts about Anjan wood.
It is used for lumber, fuel wood, fiber, ability to make charcoal, make furniture, and the capability to conserve soil and water.
Anjan wood is one of the industry’s most popular and sought-after wood finishes. It comes from sustainable sources and is handcrafted by artisans in India.
Anjan wood for construction
With a roughly 730 kilograms per cubic meter (46 lbs per cubic ft) density and a high natural resistance to rot and wood-boring insects, the wood is tough, heavy, and long-lasting.
This places it in tough hardwood that may be used for indoor and outdoor construction. Reddish-brown heartwood has lovely black streaks throughout.
A suitable log is sawn into a beam, which is then utilized in heavy construction, including as building frames, pier and bridge components, and railroad sleepers. Decking and flooring both employ planks.
Anjan wood for fuel wood
Local people use the branches of this tree as fuel wood because they are of high quality. Its wood has about 4952 Kcal/kg of caloric value.
Anjan wood for rope
Strong reddish-brown fibers called “Yepi fibers” come from the bark of young trees. Rope and wood composites are both made with these fibers.
In the past, elephants were caught with ropes made of Anjan wood and coconut.
Sangam literature says that elephants like the sweet-smelling oil and bark of the Hardwickia tree.
Anjan wood charcoal making
Due to its high calorific value, its wood is utilized for charcoal making.
Anjan wood for Roundwood
- Pit props
- Posts
Anjan wood for sawn or hewn building timbers
- Beams
- Bridges
- Engineering structures
- Exterior fitting
- Fences
- Flooring
- for heavy construction
- for light construction
- hydraulic works
Anjan wood for woodware
- Industrial and domestic woodware
- Marquetry
- Tool handles
- Turney
- Wood carvings
Anjan Wood Related Species
Anjan wood is a naturally occurring hardwood species from India.
This hardwood has been known for its durable nature and has also been used as a construction material.
The Anjan wood species is one of the most versatile types of wood due to its strength and durability.
The following post contains information on Anjan wood-related species and their habitat.
Indian Red Wood (Soymida febrifuga)
Indian redwood is a tropical, lowland tree that prefers dry to damp conditions. In addition to producing valuable timber, the tree is utilized locally to produce fiber, colors, gum, and medicines.
When quinine has no effect, it is said to be an effective treatment for India’s severe jungle fever.
The sapwood is thin and pale, and the heartwood is a very dark red-brown color. The wood is exceedingly durable, extremely hard, and close-grained.
It is a little cross-grained, which makes it challenging to plane. It can be used to make houses, furniture, pestles, grain mills, and other things.
Black Myrobalan (Terminalia chebula)
The evergreen black myrobalan tree can reach a height of 25 meters. The cylindrical bole is typically 5 to 10 meters long and 60 to 80 cm in diameter, making it relatively short.
It thrives in regions with mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures between 22 and 35 °C.
Axlewood (Anogeissus latifolia)
Small to medium-sized and deciduous axe wood trees can reach 20 meters.
The bole has a maximum unbranched length of 15 meters. It thrives in regions with yearly daily temperatures between 22 and 33 °C.
Red Saunders (Pterocarpus santalinus)
Pterocarpus santalinus is small to a medium-sized deciduous tree that reaches heights of 10 to 20 meters and has a very dense, rounded crown.
The tree provides very nice wood, used to create high-end Chinese furniture in Ming and Qing dynasty customs.
A tree native to tropical regions with a distinct dry season, Pterocarpus santalinus can be found at elevations between 150 and 1,000 meters.
It can endure temperatures as low as 7°C and thrives best where the mean yearly temperature is between 26 and 32°C.
