Context

The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department finds that the Indian laurel tree stores water in summer as claimed by the Konda Reddi tribe.

Tribal Group Helps AP Forest Department to Find Water in Trees

• The Forest Department authorities cut the bark of an Indian laurel tree (Terminalia tomentosa) found in the Papikonda National Park in the Alluri Sitharama Raju district to find out the trees ability to store water in the summer.
• The experiment was conducted as part of a regular visit to ascertain the Konda Reddi’s tribe indigenous knowledge about the tree.

Key Findings

• Water Quality: The Indian laurel tree stores water in its trunk during summers. The water stored has a strong smell and tastes sour and has an orange-yellowish appearance  due to dissolved phytochemicals  but is of potable quality.
  • A fully grown tree can store at least four to six litres of water and acts as a reservoir for the locals. 
•  The frequency and amount of water storage is girth-dependent and depends on the  thickness of the trunk. 
  • Only about  five to 10 percent of the population of Terminalia tomentosa have been observed to store water in the stem.
• Unique Feature: The water storing trees develops a lateral ridge that is two to three feet long, and half a foot thick on their trunk, five to 10 feet above the ground.
  • This lateral ridge, known as wing, indicates the presence of water in the stem.
• Adaptation Strategy:  
  • Large trees may experience a significant lag period between transpiration and sap water flow from the stem base in summers.
  • Certain Terminalia tomentosa members stores water in their  internal water storage compartments (sapwood, cell walls, and intercellular spaces) to compensate for the cavitation and embolism (formation of gas bubbles in xylem vessels) resulting from high transpiration and to maintain an effective hydraulic functionality.