2449

12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3

Butea monosperma (Lamk) Taub.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Butea in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3(3): 366 (1894).

Butea frondosa Roxb. ex Willd. (1802).

Flame of the forest (En). Indonesia: palasa (general), plasa (Javanese, Sundanese). Burma (Myanmar): pouk-pen. Cambodia: char. Laos: (kô'k) chan. Thailand: kwaao (northern), thong kwaao, thong thammachaat (central). Vietnam: l[aa]m v[oos], gi[ef]ng gi[ef]ng.

Nepal, throughout India, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, Thailand and Java; cultivated in tropical Asia and Africa, and in some subtropical regions.

A red exudate (gum) from the bark is known as 'Butea gum' or 'Bengal kino'. It can be used as a powerful astringent and is applied in cases of diarrhoea. In Indo-China it is an ingredient of dressings applied to boils, sores, ulcers and adenitis. The bark is credited with anti-ulcer and antitumour properties, and the root bark is used as an aphrodisiac, analgesic, oestrogenic and anthelmintic. The leaves show some antimicrobial activity. The seeds are reputed to work as an anthelmintic, and also have bactericidal and fungicidal effects. The flowers are used in the treatment of liver disorders and credited with astringent, diuretic and anti-inflammatory activities. In India Butea monosperma is an important host for the lac insect (Laccifer lacca), which produces shellac. The tree is much planted as an ornamental because it flowers with a profusion of bright orange, rarely sulphurous flowers. A bright yellow to deep orange-red dye can be prepared from the flowers, especially used for dyeing silk. The coarse, fibrous material obtained from the inner bark is used for rough cordage, for caulking boats and for making paper. The wood is sometimes used for utensils and construction, more commonly for fuel. Butea monosperma is a valuable species for reclaiming saline soils.

A small to medium-sized, deciduous tree 5—12(—20) m tall; leaves with petiole up to 20 cm long and leaflets up to 27 cm x 26 cm; inflorescence with early caducous bracts; flowers 4—8 cm long, bright orange-red, more rarely yellow, pedicel c. 2 times longer than calyx; fruit up to 24 cm x 6 cm, covered with short brown hairs, pale yellowish-brown or grey when ripe. Butea monosperma usually grows in open grassland, but also in mixed forest, in Java in relatively dry regions in the east, up to 1500 m altitude.

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Raharni

Raharni, 2003. Butea monosperma (Lamk) Taub.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J. and Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea