ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Lac Tree. Seeds of the Lac tree are source of Macassar Oil, used in ointments, for candles, for illumination, as a lubricant for machinery, and in Madura for Batik work. Oil of the seeds is used as a stimulating agent for the scalp, both cleansing it and promoting the growth of hair. The oil is also used as a purgative and as prophylactic against cholera; used externally in massage for rheumatism, for the cure of headaches; for skin disease. Presumably due to the presence of hydrocyanic acid, the seed and seed oil induce symptoms similar to irritant poisons. Lac tree is common on well-drained boulder deposits, frequently in large numbers along ravines or on the edges of terraces in the sub-Himalayan tract and the outer hills.
