Variation in Growth Traits of Acrocarpus fraxinifolius Wight and Arn Populations in Southern Karnataka, India

Forests provide myriad tangible and intangible benefits for human wellbeing. In recent decades, wood has become one of the vital forest products and it is an important raw material for forest-based industries such as sawmills, composite and plywood, pulp and paper industries. Acrocarpus fraxinifolius is one of the fast-growing indigenous tree species which is considered to be the promising tree species suitable for making plywood, planks, panel and construction purpose with its other multi-purpose services such as erosion control, fodder, gum, fuel wood, etc. (Nath et al., 2012). Acrocarpus fraxinifolius is a large sized tree belongs to sub-family Caesalpinioideae under family Fabaceae. A. fraxinifolius is the only species under genera Acrocarpus. It is commonly known as Belanji and Havalige (Kannada), Mandane (Bengali), Nelarai (Tamil), Kurangadi (Malayalam), Pink cedar, etc. in different parts of the country. Belanji can grow up to 60 m tall with the cylindrical bole free from branches up to 3⁄4 of its total height. Balanji, being timber yielding tree species; it is naturally distributed in high rainfall areas in the evergreen forests of Western Ghats, Sikkim, West Bengal and Assam. It is mostly International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com