
Oroxylum
indicum (L.) Benth. ex Kurz
Bignonia
indica L.
BIGNONIACEAE
Vernacular names:
Hindi - Arlu, Urru, Sauna
Kannada - Alangi, Bunepaale, Pathagani
Malayalam -
Palakappayyani,
Vella pathiri
Marathi - Titu, Ulu
Sanskrit - Syonakah
Tamil - Achi,
Pana, Pei
maram, Vanga maram, Peru
vaagai
Telugu - Dundilamu, Pampini, Nemali chettu
Threat
status:
Vulnerable
(A 1 c) - KA
Endangered
(A 1 c) - KL
Data
Deficient - TN
Habit:
Tree
Habitat:
Dry
deciduous to moist deciduous forests
Altitude:
75 - 1000
m
Distribution: Global:
India, Sri
Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and Malacca. National:
Occurs throughout the warmer parts of India. Regional:
In Karnataka, recorded in moist deciduous forests of
Chikmagalur, Dakshina and Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Coorg
districts. In Kerala, recorded in the lower Ghats of Cannanore,
Palakkad and Nilambur. In Tamil Nadu, reported only from the
extreme west of the Thekkady forests.
Description:
A medium
sized deciduous tree, growing 5-10 m tall, about 75 cm girth.
Bark about 6 mm thick, rough, surface brownish
grey.
Blaze
yellowish
green. Wood
yellowish white, soft. Branchlets robust, with prominent corky
lenticels, hairless. Leaves opposite, 2-3 pinnate, 1-1.8 m long;
each pinnae opposite; leaflets 3-9, odd-paired,
each egg-shaped-elliptic, 7-15 x 5-8 cm, base unequal, rounded
or sometimes heart-shaped, apex acuminate, margin entire,
hairless. Flowers
bisexual,
in large erect terminal racemes; peduncle stout, robust, up to 1
m long; calyx up to 3 cm long, dark purple, bell-shaped; corolla
reddish purple outside, pinkish yellow inside, about 5 cm
across, tube about 8 cm long. Capsules large,
flat, linear, 50-100 x 8-10 cm, brown, tapering at both ends,
hairless. Seeds many, 5-7 x 2-4 cm, rectangular,
flat, winged all around except the base.
Phenology: Flowering:
September
to November; Fruiting: December to July
Medicinal uses:
The roots
are one of the ingredients of the well known Ayurvedic
formulation dasa moola, which is used as
anti-inflammatory, appetizing, digestive, carminative,
antiperiodic, tonic, anthelmintic. Also used for treatment of
inflammations, sprains, hiccough, cough, asthma, bronchitis,
indigestion, diarrhoea, dysentery, gout, vomiting, leucoderma,
wounds, rheumatoid arthritis and fever. Leaves are reportedly
used for the treatment of ulcers and headache.Tender fruits are
useful in treating cough, bronchitis, indigestion and leucoderma.
Mature fruits are used in the treatment of intestinal worms,
bronchitis and bleeding piles. The seeds are purgative.
Trade
information:
Local and
regional. Root bark constitutes the drug Shyonaaka that
is sold under the trade name Shyonaaka mool chaal or
Sonaapaathaa mool chaal. The material is sometimes
adulterated with stem bark of the same species. A commonly used
substitute, in Rajasthan and Gujarat, is the root and root bark
of Ailanthes
excelsa,
known as
Arluka or Arlu. Roots were priced at Rs.3/Kg. (Kerala,
1993).
Mode of
propagation:
By seeds
and root-suckers
Special
characters:
This tree
can easily be recognized in the field by its 2 to 3-branched
large leaves, strikingly large purplish flowers and huge
sword-like flat woody fruits.