Statue of Unity – Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat Rain Forest Ektanagar

Aquilaria malaccensis

Syn. Agallochum malaccense

IUCN Red List Critically Endangered (CR)

Local name

  • Agar Wood Tree (English)
  • Agaru (Sanskrit)
  • Agil (Kannada)

Tree type

Evergreen Deciduous
Family: Thymelaeaceae
25m

Indicated uses

Medicinal Edible Ornamental Avenue Other

Flowering & fruiting

Flowering Fruiting

Key characters

Aquilaria malaccensis bark

Bark

Its smooth trunk has dark to pale grey, peeling outer bark and cream-white inner bark.

Aquilaria malaccensis leaves

Leaves

Alternate, stalked, thinly leathery, oval-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 6–12 × 1.9–5.5 cm, with fine, parallel veinlets and elongated leaf tips.

Aquilaria malaccensis flower

Flower

Its fragrant flowers are green or dirty-yellow, 5-6 mm long, and found in shortly-stalked, 2.5 cm-long clusters of up to 10 together.

Aquilaria malaccensis fruit / seeds

Fruit / Seeds

Fruits woody, ovoid to ellipsoid capsules, 3–6 cm long, splitting into 3–5 valves to release numerous flat, wind-dispersed winged seeds.

Aquilaria malaccensis

Did you know?

Long before agarwood became a luxury fragrance, Assam’s indigenous communities crafted durable paper from its bark for chronicles and sacred texts.

Distribution

World map showing distribution

Bangladesh to West & Central Malesia.