Dictionary:

sal

  (săl)

Salt.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sāl.]

Salt.

1. any compound of a base and an acid.
2. salts, a saline purgative. See also sodium chloride.

• bile s's — glycine or taurine conjugates of bile acids, which are formed in the liver and secreted in the bile. They are powerful detergents which break down fat globules, enabling them to be digested.
• s. brine — strong solution of common salt used to pickle meat and other human foods. Sodium chloride is the biggest component but large quantities of nitrate are usually present and represent a greater toxicity hazard than does the salt.
• buffer s. — a salt in the blood that is able to absorb slight excesses of acid or alkali with little or no change in the hydrogen ion concentration.
• common s. — see sodium chloride.
• s. gland — nasal gland in birds.
• s. hunger — common in circumstances in which animals are derived of any salt; manifested by leather chewing, earth eating, coat licking and urine drinking.
• s. lick — 1. naturally occurring deposit of salt in the form of a shallow pan that wild and domestic animals can share by licking.
— 2. a prepared mixture of salt with other minerals added, the composition varying with the local nutritional deficiency but the common additive is one containing phosphorus. The cattle or sheep are encouraged to lick by the taste of the salt and serendipitously acquire the other minerals. May be loose and put out in containers covered against the weather or formed into blocks that resist rain erosion and are fitted into holders fixed to buildings or free-standing in the pasture. See also mineral–salt mixture.
• Rochelle s. — potassium sodium tartrate, a cathartic.
• s. sick — see copper nutritional deficiency.
• smelling s's — aromatic ammonium carbonate, a stimulant and restorative.
• s. tolerant — capable of surviving in a high concentration of salt, e.g. some bacteria, including staphylococci.

For other meanings of Sal or SAL see SAL (disambiguation)

Sal
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Dipterocarpaceae Genus: Shorea Species: S. robusta
Binomial name
Shorea robusta Roth

Sal (Shorea robusta) is a species of tree native to southern Asia, ranging south of the Himalaya, from Myanmar in the east to India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. In India it extends from Assam, Bengal and Jharkhand west to the Shivalik Hills in Haryana, east of the Yamuna. The range also extends through the Eastern Ghats and to the eastern Vindhya and Satpura ranges of central India. It is often the dominant tree in the forests where it occurs.

Sal is moderate to slow growing, and can attain heights of 30 to 35 m and a trunk diameter of up to 2-2.5 m. The leaves are 10-25 cm long and 5-15 cm broad. In wetter areas, it is evergreen; in drier areas, it is dry-season deciduous, shedding most of the leaves in between February to April, leafing out again in April and May.

Uses

Sal is one of the most important sources of hardwood timber in India, with hard, coarse-grained wood that is light in colour when freshly cut, and becoming dark brown with exposure. The wood is resinous and durable, and is sought after for construction, although not well suited to planing and polishing.

Sal resin is burned as incense in Hindu ceremonies, and sal seeds and fruit are a source of lamp oil and vegetable fat.

Trivia

Sal is said to be the species of tree under which Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha was born.

Sal fat is a key ingredient in the green tea variety of Pocky.

References

• Ashton (1998). Shorea robusta. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.

External links

• Haryana Online: Sal

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