Butea Monosperma (Flame of the Forest), or Butea frondosa is a species of medicinal plant belonging to the family Fabaceae. And is native to tropical South Asia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and western Indonesia.
Butea Monosperma Morphology and Characteristics
What are Butea Monosperma characteristics? It is a medium-size deciduous tree that reaches 15 m in height. The leaves are pinnate, with a petiole of 8-16 cm and three leaflets, each 10-20 cm long. Moreover, flowers are 2.5 cm long, are orange-red in color, and grow in clusters up to 15 cm long. The fruit is a pod of 15-20 cm long and 4-5 cm wide.
What are Uses of Butea Monosperma?
Butea Monosperma is commom for wood, resin, fodder, medicine and dye. As the tree produces a gomoresin, or kamarkas in Hindi, which is popular in certain dishes. Besides, gum or in other words Bengal Kino, as it is commonly refer to; is highly valuable by pharmacists, due to its astringent qualities, and its medicinal use to tan leather due to its tannin.
Moreover, in West Bengal, the tree has a strong tie with spring, especially thanks to the poems and songs of Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore. Who compares the bright orange flower with a flame of fire. And, in Santiniketan, where Tagore is from; this flower is an indispensable part of the celebration of spring. As the plant has given its name to the city of Palashi, famous because the historic Battle of Plassey.
Indications of Butea Monosperma benefits: it is used as an astringent. The seeds give an oil used as a vermifuge.
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