''Dipterocarpus zeylanicus'', commonly known as හොර - Hora in

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

and සරල - Sarala or කිරිපලු - Kiripalu, is a species of ''

Dipterocarpus '' D. retusus'' in Köhler ''Dipterocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. ''Dipterocarpus'' is the third-largest and most diverse genus among the Dipterocarpaceae. The species are well known for ...

'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. A closely related Indian species is ''Dipterocarpus turbinatus''. The Sri Lankan tree is a large tree that grows up to 40 – 45 m tall and 4 – 6 m in circumference. The bark is light pinkish brown or light yellowish brown. Leaves are big and oval, 5 to 8 inches long. The sharp-edged leaves are covered with silver hairy. Flowers bloom in April and seeds have two wings to spread from wind. The bark contains considerable amounts of gray caller oleo resin. ''D. zeylanicus'' can be found in moist low country like

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located ...

, Kaluthara,

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

and Mathara districts and also in the Sinharaja rain forest. The tallest (nearly 60m) trees of Hora in Sri Lanka are found in Udakiruwa village in

Lunugala Lunugala is a town in the Sri Lankan province of Uva.There are 28 Grama Niladhari Divisions in the Lunugala Divisional Secretariat Division The town is placed in middle of a mountain range. It was called "Pattipola" (පට්ටිපොල) in ...

and under great threat of legal/illegal felling. There are many place names which begin with the name of the Hora tree. Even Tamil place names like ''Norochcholai'' (where a controversial coal power plant in Sri Lanka is located) is said to refer to a clump of Hora trees - i.e., "Horagolla" in

.https://d-web.org/place.names/index.html It is used as a strong and hard wood and a weight of 54 lbs per cubic foot. The heartwood is light pinkish to dark reddish brown. After a preservative treatment, it is used for railway sleepers, rafters, electric posts, beams, joists, heavy types of carpentry work, and eminently suitable for underwater work. In

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

, the tree is said to have played the role of the Bodhi tree for a Buddha of a previous epoch, viz., the thirteenth

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

known as "Padumuththara - පදුමුත්තර".

References

*"Sundara Sinharajaya" - Gamini Kumara Withana *Wood & it uses - Forest department of Sri Lanka 1962. zeylanicus {{Dipterocarpaceae-stub