235. Maroon leaves of Chākote

Western Ghats or the Sahy ādri ranges display a variety of fauna and flora. In sylvan parts of Sullia Taluk that seamlessly merges into Sahy ādri you can see a strange tree that sports pinkish maroon leaves especially during the spring. Local folks call it ‘Ch ākote’ ( ‘t ‘pronounced as in ‘tea’). The tree is also known as Chakate, S ākote, Sagade, T ākate or Akate. Tulu Lexicon identifies the tree (vol 3, p. 1216) as Indian Squill or ‘Schleinchera oleosa’ belong to Sapindaceae family. The tree is also known by similar names in Tamil and Telugu regions.
Apart from the tree, the name of the tree itself sounds a bit strange, tempting us to ponder if this is an alien word borrowed from a languages other than Tulu.

T ākode
To add to the mystery there is a place known as ‘T ākode’ near Mudabidri town on the way to Bantval. The meaning of the place name is difficult to decipher and it appears that the word ‘T ākode’ could be a variant of the name of the tree Ch ākote.
Readers having better insight on the origin of these words may kindly post their comments.
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