Malabar mahogany (Kingiodendron pinnatum)

Kingiodendron pinnatum, known in Kerala as kulavu, is a tall legume tree of the southern Western Ghats whose wounded bark pours out a thick, dark, balsam-like resin. Its timber is sold as Malabar mahogany, though it is not a mahogany. Like many Ghats timbers it has been cut faster than it regrows, and it is assessed as endangered.

Botanical name: Kingiodendron pinnatum (Roxb. ex DC.) Harms
Family: Fabaceae
Tamil: Kulavu
Hindi: Kulavu
Parts used: Timber, Oleoresin (historical; wild-tapped trade is a conservation problem)
Habit: Ghats resin pea; mahogany is a shop word
Last updated: 2026-10-25

How to recognise Malabar mahogany

It is a member of the pea family, which is easy to forget in a tree this size. The leaves are pinnate, with a few leathery, glossy leaflets, and the small flowers ripen into flat, one-seeded pods.

Older books called it Hardwickia pinnata, which links it to anjan, Hardwickia binata, the dry-country tree with just two leaflets per leaf. The two grow in very different forests.

The bark, when cut, releases an oleoresin in quantity. That resin is the most distinctive thing about it, and the reason it was tapped.

The heartwood is reddish-brown and heavy, which explains the borrowed timber-trade name mahogany. True mahogany is Swietenia, an American genus in another family.

Traditional use of Malabar mahogany

Timber and resin

The resin was used locally as a varnish and a wood preservative, and in folk practice it was applied to the skin. The timber went into construction and furniture.

Kerala forest use

Modern notes on Malabar mahogany

Chemists have analysed the resin, as they have other legume balsams such as copaiba. There is no clinical evidence for any medicinal use.

Conservation biologists list it as endangered because its range is small and its habitat has been logged and converted to plantations.

Malabar mahogany safety

Do not take the resin internally.

Ecology and sourcing

It is restricted to evergreen and semi-evergreen forest of the southern Western Ghats, mainly in Kerala and the adjoining hills of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Natural regeneration is poor where seed trees have been removed, so surviving mature trees matter.

Related plants

Also in Fabaceae

Questions about Malabar mahogany

Is Malabar mahogany anjan?

No. Anjan is Hardwickia binata, the two-leaflet dry-forest tree.

What older names does Kingiodendron pinnatum go by?

Hardwickia pinnata.

Is Malabar mahogany mahogany?

No. The English name is a timber-trade comparison; true mahogany is Swietenia.

Sources

Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.