Plant Family: Belongs to the Verbenaceae family, which includes Blue Petrea (Petrea volubilis) and Bois Lezard (Vitex divaricata).

Description: Large, upright, aromatic tree in the Gardens near Elmshall Gate; straight-stemmed, up to 35 m tall (115 ft) in natural habitat; leaves simple, ovate, very large, 25-50 cm long (10-20 in) and 15-30 cm wide (6-12 in), underside hairy; flowers small, 6-8 mm diameter (0.2-0.3 in), white, in large, profusely branching, cymose inflorescences; fruit a hard irregularly rounded, 4-seeded drupe, 10-17 mm in diameter (0.4-0.7 in), with persistent calyx; seeds viable for 3-4 months under natural conditions, and for several years under controlled storage conditions; flowering in rainy season, about a month after rains begin, starting 6-8 yrs after planting.

Natural Habitat: Tropical regions with wet and dry seasons and well drained soil; propagation by seed.

Origin and Distribution: Native of S.E. Asia where found in Teak forests; distributed variously in tropics and semi-tropics where cultivated in plantations for timber; grown in the Botanic Gardens as a specimen ornamental, and at the Cabrits in trial plots.

Uses: One of the most important commercial timbers of the tropics; very attractive wood, used in high value, fine furniture, and for home, office and boat paneling; timber also valued for ship-building, railway ties, dock piles and other light and heavy construction; young leaves and bark of root yield yellowish-brown dye; in India, all plant parts used medicinally, including powdered wood used as a laxative and in treatment of hemorrhoids, and flowers used for bronchitis; also used as ornamental for its large attractive leaves; widely cultivated in S.E. Asia, and, reportedly, best produced on calcareous soils.

References:
Henny Rachmawati et. al. Tectona grandis. Danida Forest Seed Center, Humlebaek, Denmark 2002 (dfsc.dk)
Dan H. Nicolson. Flora of Dominica, Part 2: Dicotyledoneae. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1991
Pankaj Oudhia. Sagon (Tectona grandis Linn.). Society for Parthenium Management, Raipur, India 2004 (hort.purdue.edu)
H.F. Macmillan. Tropical Planting and Gardening. Macmillan, London 1956
Gerald Carr. Flowering Plant Families. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2004 (botany.hawaii.edu)
Robert A. DeFilipps. Useful Plants of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1998