''Terminalia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of large trees of the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

family

Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, G ...

, comprising nearly 300

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

distributed in

tropical region The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's axi ...

s of the world. The genus name derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''terminus'', referring to the fact that the leaves appear at the very tips of the shoots.

Axlewood ''Terminalia anogeissiana'' is a species of small to medium-sized trees native to the Indian subcontinent only. Its common names are axlewood (English), ''bakli, baajhi, dhau, dhawa, dhawra, dhawda'', or ''dhaora'' (Hindi). It is one of the mo ...

(''T. latifolia'') is used for its wood and

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

s and as a

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

. African birch (''T. leiocarpa'') is used for its wood and to make yellow dye and medicinal compounds. A yellow dyestuff produced from the leaves of ''T. leiocarpa'' has traditionally been used in West Africa to dye leather.

Selected species

There are 278 accepted ''Terminalia'' species as of July 2024 according to

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

. Selected species include: *'' Terminalia acuminata'' (Fr. Allem.) Eichl. *''

Terminalia albida ''Terminalia albida'' is a tree species in the genus ''Terminalia Terminalia may refer to: * Terminalia (festival) Terminalia () was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Terminus, who presided over boundaries. His statue was mere ...

'' Scott-Elliot *''

Terminalia amazonia ''Terminalia amazonia'' is a species of tree in the Combretaceae family. It is native to North America and South America and has been used for commercial logging. The wood is hard and durable. In Belize, ''Terminalia amazonia'' is widely located ...

'' (J.F.Gmel.) Exell – white olive *''

Terminalia anogeissiana ''Terminalia anogeissiana'' is a species of small to medium-sized trees native to the Indian subcontinent only. Its common names are axlewood (English), ''bakli, baajhi, dhau, dhawa, dhawra, dhawda'', or ''dhaora'' (Hindi). It is one of the mo ...

'' – axlewood *''

Terminalia arbuscula ''Terminalia arbuscula'', also called white olive, is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is endemic to Jamaica. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when ...

'' Sw. *''

Terminalia archipelagi ''Terminalia archipelagi'' is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is endemic to the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, within Papua New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss ...

'' Coode *''

Terminalia arenicola ''Terminalia arenicola'', commonly known as beach almond or brown damson, is a tree in the family Combretaceae which is endemic to Queensland in Australia. Description ''Terminalia arenicola'' is a small to medium-sized tree growing up to arou ...

'' *''

Terminalia arjuna ''Terminalia arjuna'' is a tree of the genus '' Terminalia''. It is commonly known as arjuna or arjun tree in English. It is used as a traditional medicinal plant. Description ''T. arjuna'' grows to about 20–25 metres tall; usually has a buttr ...

'' (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn. – arjuna, koha, white marudah *''

Terminalia arostrata ''Terminalia arostrata'', commonly known as crocodile tree or nutwood, is a tree of the family ''Combretaceae'' native to northern parts of Australia. The tree typically grows to a height of in height and deciduous to semi-deciduous. It blooms ...

'' Ewart & O.B.Davies – crocodile tree *''

Terminalia australis ''Terminalia australis'' is a South American species of large shrub or tree, which reaches up to 12 m in height and 40 cm in diameter. It inhabits the basins of the Paraná River and the Uruguay River around the Argentine Mesopotamia, Parag ...

'' Cambess – palo amarillo, tanimbú *''

Terminalia avicennioides ''Terminalia avicennioides'' () is a tree species in the genus '' Terminalia'' found in West Africa. Castalagin and flavogallonic acid dilactoneThe use of microfluorometric method for activity-guided isolation of antiplasmodial compound from p ...

'' *''

Terminalia bellirica ''Terminalia bellirica'', known as baheda, bahera, behada, beleric or bastard myrobalan (Arabic: beliledj بليلج, borrowed from Middle Persian Balilag), Persian بلیله (Balileh), Sanskrit: Vibhītaka बिभीतक, Aksha is a large ...

'' (Gaertn.) Roxb. – beleric *''

Terminalia bentii ''Terminalia bentii'' is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is endemic to the fog woodlands of Yemen. The species was first described as ''Anogeissus bentii'' by John Gilbert Baker in 1895. In 2017 the genus ''Anogeissus'' was ma ...

'' *'' Terminalia bialata'' (Roxb.) Steud. –

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, Philippines *''

Terminalia buceras ''Terminalia buceras'' is a tree in the Combretaceae family. It is known by a variety of names in English, including bullet tree, black olive tree, gregorywood (or gregory wood), Antigua whitewood, and oxhorn bucida. It is native to Mexico, Cent ...

'' *'' Terminalia bucidoides'' Standley & L.O.Williams *'' Terminalia bursarina'' – Bendee *'' Terminalia calamansanai'' (Blanco) Rolfe *'' Terminalia cambodiana'' *'' Terminalia canescens'' (DC.) Radlk. – jalool *''

Terminalia carolinensis ''Terminalia carolinensis'', commonly known as the ka tree or keima tree, is a tree that grows on the Micronesian islands of Kosrae and Pohnpei. The trees have umbrella shaped crowns and mossy buttressed bases.Nature Conservancy February/ March 2 ...

'' Kaneh. *''

Terminalia catappa ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large Tropics, tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, ...

'' L. – Indian almond, tropical almond, umbrella tree *''

Terminalia chebula ''Terminalia chebula'', commonly known as black- or chebulic myrobalan, is a species of ''Terminalia'', native to South Asia from Pakistan, India and Nepal east to southwest China (Yunnan), and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Vietnam.Flora of ...

'' Retz. – black myrobalan, chebulic myrobalan, inknut *''

Terminalia cherrieri ''Terminalia cherrieri'' is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is Endemism, endemic to New Caledonia. It is threatened by habitat loss. The dry forest habitat of Terminalia cherrieri has been reduced by roughly 95% over the past ...

'' McKee *'' Terminalia circumalata'' F.Muell. *''

Terminalia cunninghamii ''Terminalia cunninghamii'', commonly known as pindan quondong, pindan walnut or kalumburu almond, is a tree or shrub of the family ''Combretaceae'' native to Western Australia. Some Aboriginal people know the plant as kumpaja. The tree or shr ...

'' C.A.Gardner – Pindan quondong *''

Terminalia dhofarica ''Terminalia dhofarica'' is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is found in Oman and Yemen, where it is endemic to the South Arabian fog woodlands, shrublands, and dune ecoregion. It is threatened by habitat loss. ''T. dhofarica'' ...

'' *'' Terminalia eddowesii'' Coode *'' Terminalia engleri'' Gere & Boatwr. – terenifù (West Africa to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

) *''

Terminalia elliptica ''Terminalia elliptica'' (sin. ''Terminalia tormentosa'') is a species of '' Terminalia'' native to southern and southeast Asia in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.Sal and Saaj Deforestation in West Nepal"T ...

'' Willd. – Indian-laurel *'' Terminalia eriostachya'' A.Rich. *''

Terminalia ferdinandiana ''Terminalia ferdinandiana'', most commonly known as the Kakadu plum and also called the gubinge, billygoat plum, green plum, salty plum, murunga, mador and other names, is a flowering plant in the family Combretaceae, native to Australia, wide ...

'' Exell – billygoat plum, Kakadu plum, gubinge *''

Terminalia fitzgeraldii ''Terminalia fitzgeraldii'' is a tree of the family ''Combretaceae'' native to Western Australia. The tree typically grows to a height of in height but can reach up to and is deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term de ...

'' C.A.Gardner *'' Terminalia glabrata'' *'' Terminalia grandiflora'' Benth. *''

Terminalia hadleyana ''Terminalia hadleyana'' is a tree of the family ''Combretaceae'' native to northern Australia. The tree or shrub typically grows to a height of but can reach up to and is deciduous. It blooms between October and December producing cream-yell ...

'' W.Fitzg. *''

Terminalia ivorensis ''Terminalia ivorensis'' is a species of tree in the family Combretaceae, and is known by the common names of Ivory Coast almond, idigbo, black afara, framire and emeri. Description ''Terminalia ivorensis'' is found in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gh ...

'' A.Chev. – idigbo, black afara, blackbark, brimstone wood, shingle wood *'' Terminalia januariensis'' DC. *'' Terminalia kaernbachii'' Warb. – okari nut *'' Terminalia kangeanensis'' Slooten – Kangean almond *'' Terminalia kuhlmannii'' Alwan & Stace *'' Terminalia kumpaja'' R.L.Barrett *'' Terminalia latifolia'' Sw. *'' Terminalia latipes'' Benth. *''

Terminalia leiocarpa ''Terminalia leiocarpa'' (African birch; ) is a species of tree in the genus ''Terminalia''. It is a deciduous tree native of tropical Africa from Senegal and Guinea in the west to Eritrea in the east and as far south as the Democratic Republic o ...

'' *'' Terminalia littoralis'' L. *''

Terminalia macroptera ''Terminalia macroptera'' is a species of flowering plant in the White Mangrove Family (Combretaceae) known by the Hausa common name ''kwandari''. It is native to Africa, where it can be found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, Ugand ...

'' Guill. & Perr. *''

Terminalia megalocarpa ''Terminalia megalocarpa'' is a rainforest tree of eastern New Guinea and Bougainville Island. It is in the family Combretaceae. Its common name is to-oma. Its most interesting feature is that its seeds, long, have five cotyledons rather than ...

'' Exell *''

Terminalia microcarpa ''Terminalia microcarpa'' is a tree species in the family Combretaceae. It occurs throughout the Philippines, in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi, Borneo, Timor, and the Maluku Islands), Papua New Guinea, possibly the Bismarck Arch ...

'' Decne. *''

Terminalia muelleri ''Terminalia muelleri'', commonly known as Mueller's damson or the Australian almond, is a species of flowering plant in the family Combretaceae. It is native to the Cobourg Peninsula of the Northern Territory, and to northern and eastern Queen ...

'' Benth. – Australian almond *''

Terminalia myriocarpa ''Terminalia myriocarpa'', the East Indian almond, is a tree species in the genus ''Terminalia'' found in Southeast Asia. Ecology The larvae of the moth '' Acrocercops terminaliae'' feed on ''T. myriocarpa''. Chemistry The phenolic compounds m ...

'' *'' Terminalia neotaliala'' – Madagascar almond tree *'' Terminalia nitens'' C.Presl *'' Terminalia novocaledonica'' Däniker *'' Terminalia oblongata'' F.Muell. *''

Terminalia paniculata ''Terminalia paniculata'' is a large-sized commercial timber tree endemic to Peninsular India, commonly distributed in Karnataka and Kerala. Terminalias are especially known for cyclic triterpenes, flavanoids and tannins and ''T. paniculata'' is ...

'' Roth *'' Terminalia parviflora'' Thwaites *'' Terminalia pellucida'' C.Presl *''

Terminalia pendula ''Terminalia pendula'' is an Asian species of tree in the family Combretaceae. It is a medium-sized tree found in both primary and secondary tropical and sub-tropical forests. It is recorded from India to China, south to Thailand and Vietnam. It ...

'' (incorporating ''T. phillyreifolia'') *'' Terminalia petiolaris Benth. – ''marool'' *'' Terminalia platyphylla'' F.Muell. *'' Terminalia platyptera'' F.Muell. *''

Terminalia polycarpa ''Terminalia polycarpa'' is a small African tree in the family Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the ...

'' *'' Terminalia porphyrocarpa'' *''

Terminalia prunioides ''Terminalia prunioides'', the purple-pod cluster-leaf or purple-pod terminalia, is a small African tree in the family Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant Flowering plant ...

'' *''

Terminalia reitzii ''Terminalia reitzii'' is a species of plant in the Combretaceae family. It is endemic to Brazil, growing primarily in seasonally dry tropical forests in the southern part of the country. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destructi ...

'' Excell *'' Terminalia rerei'' Coode *'' Terminalia richii'' A.Gray *''

Terminalia rostrata ''Terminalia rostrata'' is a large tree found only on the Mariana Islands, Mariana Island of Asuncion Island, Asuncion. It is a part of the "Terminalia and ravine forest" on the western and southwestern slopes of the island, consisting of scatt ...

'' *'' Terminalia schimperiana'' Hochst. *''

Terminalia sericea ''Terminalia sericea'' is a species of deciduous tree of the genus ''Terminalia'' that is native to southern Africa. Its common names include clusterleaf, silver cluster-leaf or silver terminalia in English, vaalboom in Afrikaans and mususu in Ve ...

'' Burch. ex DC. – silver terminalia *''

Terminalia superba ''Terminalia superba'', the superb terminalia, limba, afara (UK), korina (US), frake (Africa), African limba wood, or ofram (Ghana), is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa. It grows up to 60 m tall, with a ...

'' Engl. & Diels – limba *''

Terminalia triptera ''Terminalia triptera'' is a species of tree in the family Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clad ...

'' (syn. ''T. nigrovenulosa'' ) *'' Terminalia volucris'' Benth.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1469349 Myrtales genera Medicinal plants Pantropical flora Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus