Botanical Name

Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud.

Family

Pinaceae

Synonyms

Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don, Cedrus deodara var. argentea J.Nelson, Cedrus deodara f. aurea (J.Nelson) Rehder, Cedrus deodara f. argentea (J.Nelson) Beissn., Cedrus deodara var. aurea J.Nelson, Cedrus deodara var. compacta Carrière, Cedrus deodara var. fastigiata Carrière, Cedrus deodara var. flava Carriere, Cedrus deodara f. robusta (C.Lawson) Beissn., Cedrus deodara var. variegata Carriere.

Regional Name

English : Deodar, Himalayan Cedar, Hindi :Devdar, Devdaroo, Sanskrit : Bhadradaru, Surabhuruha, Amaradaru, Devakastha, Daru, Suradaru, Amarataru, Urdu : Deodar, Punjabi :Diyar, Dewdar, Assamese : Shajar Tuljeen, Bengali : Devdaroo, Gujrati : Devdar, Teliyo Devdar, Kannada : Deevdar, Malayalam : Devtaram, Marathi : Devdar, Telya Dedaroo, Tamil : Devdaroo, Telugu : Devdari Chettu, Devdaree.

Part Used

Bark.

Description

This species is distributed in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India. Within India, it has been recorded in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh Sikkim, Darjeeling and Uttarakhand between an altitude range of 1200-3000 m. Devadaru is a very large and tall ever green tree, upto 75m in height and ranging from 2.4 to 3.6 m in girth, occasionally even upto 13.5 m in girth, Wood moderately hard, light yellowish-brown to brown; wood splits readily longitudinally; annual rings well marked; medullary rays appear as whitish lines; resincanals, if present, arranged in long tangential rows, showing up as dark, narrow line onthe radial surface of the wood pieces; odour, aromatic; taste, not distinct.

Phytoconstituents

Terpenoids, Flavonoids and Glycosides. P- methylacetophenon, atlantone, Sesquiterpenes

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa : Tikta, Guna : Laghu, Snigdha,  Vipaka : Katu, Virya : Usna, Karma : Kaphahara, Vatahara, Dustavrana, Sodhaka.

Ayurvedic Applications

Amavata, Adhmana, Jvara, Krmi, Kandu, Pinasa, Vibandha, Tandra, Hikka, Prameha, Kasa, Kustha, Raktavikara, Sotha , Sutikaroga.

Medicinal Uses

It is used in skin disorders, asthma, pruritis, chronic inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, sciatic neuralgia, relieves flatulence, pain, fever, headache, inflammation when applied locally, helminthiasis and ulcers, It is used as blood purifier, good wound cleaner and healer. Application of oil destroys bacteria from infected wounds, nasal disorders and other wounds, mumps, filarial and chancre, chronic cough and cold, in urinary disorder. Being diuretic, it alleviates many urinary disorders and benefits in dysuria and gonorrhea, puerperal disorders (health issues appearing after child birth) as it is a uterine tonic and purifies breast milk, obesity and various skin diseases.