{{Short description|Genus of trees}} {{Redirect|Kusum|the oil|Kusum oil}} {{Speciesbox |image = Schleic oleos 080320-5971 rgn.JPG |image_caption = Young leaves |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). |author2=IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group |date=2019 |title=''Schleichera oleosa'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T145823995A145823997 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T145823995A145823997.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> |display_parents = 2 |genus = Schleichera |parent_authority = Lour. |species = oleosa |authority = (Lour.) Oken |synonyms = {{Hidden begin|border=0|title=18 synonyms}} {{Tree list}} *'''Homotypic synonyms''' **''Pistacia oleosa'' {{small|Lour.}} **''Koon oleosus'' {{small|(Lour.) Pierre}} **''Cussambium oleosum'' {{small|(Lour.) Kuntze}} *'''Heterotypic Synonyms''' **''Conghas zeylonensis'' {{small|Wall.}} **''Cussambium glabrum'' {{small|Buch.-Ham.}} **''Cussambium pubescens'' {{small|Buch.-Ham.}} **''Cussambium spinosum'' {{small|Buch.-Ham.}} **''Melicoccus pubescens'' {{small|(B.Heyne ex Roth) DC.}} **''Melicoccus trijuga'' {{small|(Willd.) Juss.}} **''Ornitrophe triandra'' {{small|Blanco}} **''Schleichera aculeata'' {{small|Kostel.}} **''Schleichera pubescens'' {{small|B.Heyne ex Roth}} **''Schleichera trijuga'' {{small|Willd.}} **''Schleichera trijuga var. extensa'' {{small|Pierre}} **''Schmidelia triandra'' {{small|Blanco}} **''Scytalia trijuga'' {{small|(Willd.) Roxb. ex DC.}} **''Stadtmannia pubescens'' {{small|Spreng.}} **''Stadtmannia trijuga'' {{small|(Willd.) Spreng.}} {{Tree list/end}} {{Hidden end}} |synonyms_ref =<ref name=POWO/> }} thumb|230px|Bark

'''''Schleichera''''' is a monotypic genus of plants in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. There is only one species, '''''Schleichera oleosa'''''.<ref name=POWO>{{cite web |url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:784721-1 |title= Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=July 18, 2025}}</ref><ref name=COL>{{cite web |url= https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/3H283 |title= Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Catalogue of Life |publisher=Species 2000 |access-date=July 18, 2025}}</ref> This tree occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.<ref>[http://www.flowersofindia.in/catalog/slides/Kusum%20Tree.html Kusum Tree]</ref>

==Species== ''Schleichera oleosa'', kusum tree, Ceylon oak,<ref>[http://www.catalogueoflife.org/search/all/key/Schleichera/match/1 Catalogue of Life]</ref> lac tree,<ref>{{PLANTS|id=SCOL3|taxon=Schleichera oleosa|accessdate=7 November 2015}}</ref> gum lac tree. It is a large deciduous (nearly evergreen) tree with a comparatively short fluted trunk and a shade spreading crown. It is frost and drought hardy and is subject to damage by grazing. It produces root-suckers freely, and it has good cropping power. The wood is very hard and reddish brown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iifm.ac.in/ntfp/kusum.html |title=Ntfp-Mis |publisher=Iifm.ac.in |date= |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref> This tree is noted for its growth of new leaves that are bright red. In India the growth of these bright red leaves happens around March. 230px|thumb|Young leaves blooming in various shades of red The leaves are pinnate, with each leaf having 2-4 leaflets. The tree is host to Kusumi Lac (''Kerria lacca''), a lac insect which is native to India. Its seeds are the source of Kusum oil.

'''Flowers''': The flowers are tiny and hardly noticeable, occurring in short dense yellow clusters.

'''Fruit''': The fruit is 2.5 to 3&nbsp;cm long - roughly the size of a small plum - and ovoid, 1-3 celled, and more or less abruptly tapering to a point, dry indehiscent.

'''Seed''': The seed is 1.5&nbsp;cm long, smooth, brown, and enclosed in a succulent aril which has an acidic taste, and contains 25-38% oil and up to 22% protein. It is irregular or ellipsoidal in shape, slightly compressed, and has a thick brown seed coat on its surface. The moisture in the dried seed should be maintained around 4-6%.<ref name="sea">SEA HandBook-2009, By The Solvent Extractors association of India</ref>

'''Kernel''': The kernel is 16-20% of the dried fruit and 60-64% of the seed. It is 51-52% oil. The kernel is susceptible to fungal attack.

==Distribution== It is native to the Andaman Islands, Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Java, Laos, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Maluku Islands, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, and Vietnam.

==Habitat== This tree grows naturally from the foothills of the Himalayas and the western Deccan Plateau, east to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. It grows in Bihar, Central and Southern parts of India. The tree occurs sporadically, seldom gregariously in dry, mixed deciduous forests. It grows in rocky, gravelly, or loamy, slightly acidic soil that is well drained. It is occasionally found in swampy locations, but it usually grows on rather dry soil, at low altitudes, but can be found at 900–1200 meters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/34317454/Schleichera_oleosa_.pdf |title=Schleichera oleosa (Lou.) Oken.: Seed Leaflet |publisher=Curis.ku.dk |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref> The requirement of normal rain fall is 750–2800&nbsp;mm. and ambient temperature of 35-47.5&nbsp;°C.

==Names== In Thailand this tree is known as ''takhro'' ({{langx|th|ตะคร้อ}}) or as ''kho'' ({{langx|th|ค้อ}}), the latter being a name that it shares with ''Livistona speciosa'', a kind of palm tree.<ref>[http://www.nanagarden.com/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%84%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD-livistona-speciosa-161685-4.html เมล็ดค้อ Livistona speciosa]</ref> The German-Dutch botanist Georg Eberhard Rumphius, who lived for 45 years in Ambon, called this tree ''Cussambium''.<ref>Georg Eberhard Rumphius. Herbarium Amboinense. Cussambium. Liber I, Cap. 47, 1741</ref>

In India it is mostly known as ''Kusum'' (कुसुम) and was one of the main trees of undisturbed forests in Madhya Pradesh and the Deccan Plateau.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Kusum%20Tree.html |title=Schleichera oleosa - Kusum Tree |publisher=Flowersofindia.net |date= |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref> In Sri Lanka it is known as ''koan'' (කෝන්).

==Pests== The tree is a host of the lac bug ''Kerria lacca'', whose female secretes a resin known as shellac to form a tunnel-like tube as it traverses the branches of the tree. A variety of trees are able to host the insect, but the resin produced on the ''Schleichera'' tree is least colored.

{{-}} ==Gallery== {| |- valign="top" |215px|thumb |thumb|230px|Flowers |thumb|260px|Fruits |thumb|300px|Seeds |}

==See also== *Kusum oil *Macassar oil

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{commons category inline}} * [http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18132 AgroForestry Tree Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119064253/http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/Sea/Products/AFDbases/AF/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18132 |date=2012-01-19 }} * [http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/maindata/we1600.html Schleichera oleosa - The Wood Explorer Database]

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q2700468|from2=Q13094301}}

Category:Monotypic Sapindaceae genera Category:Sapindaceae Category:Taxa named by João de Loureiro