Bauhinia racemosa Lam.
Family: Caesalpiniaceae
English: Mountain ebony, Bidi leaf tree
Bengali: BanrajHindi: कठमूली katmauli, Kachnal
Kannada: ಅಪ್ತಾ aapta, ಅರಳುಕದುಮನ್ದರ aralukadumandara, Vana samtige
Konkani: आप्टो apto
Malayalam: അരംപാലി arampaali, കുടബുളി kutabuli, മലയത്തി malayaththi
Marathi: अपटा apta, सोना sona
Sanskrit: यमलपत्रक yamalapatrakah, युग्मपत्र yugmapatra, Ashmantaka, Kanchini
Tamil: ஆத்தி atti, தாதகி tataki, Kokku mandarai
Telugu: ఆరెచెట్టు arechettu
Unani: Kachnaar.
Bauhinia racemosa Lam.; Encycl. [J. Lamarck & al.] 1(2): 390. 1785 [1 Aug 1785]
Trees, deciduous, small, to 15 m tall. Bark blackish, rough; branches spreading or pendulous, zigzag, slender, glabrous. Stipules caducous; petiole 0.8-1.2 cm; leaf blade broadly orbic¬ular, 1.5-4 × 2.2-6 cm, 7-9-veined, leathery, abaxially pubes¬cent or glabrous, adaxially glabrous, base cordate, apex bifid to ca. 1/3, lobes rounded at apex.
Inflorescence lateral or terminal raceme, 20-flowered; peduncle short; bracts and brac¬teoles linear. Flowers white, buds obovoid, puberulent, apex protruding. Calyx split spathaceously at anthe¬sis. Petals creamy white, subequal, oblanceolate, 8-10 mm, subses¬sile. Fertile stamens 10, unequal; filaments 6-7 mm; anthers small, ca. 3 mm. Ovary stalked, glabrous; stigma subsessile, peltate, small. Legume linear-cylindric, 15-20 × 1.8-2.2 cm; valves woody, glabrous. Seeds 12-20, dark brownish, ellipsoid, 8-10 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 28.
Distribution: Native to South Asia, in dry valeys.
Leaves are used as cattle fodder, coarse fibre is extacted from the bark. In Ayurveda the bark is useful for the treatment of malaria, dysentery and dyarhoea. It is also useful as astigent. The stem bark of the plant is an astringent and is used in the treatment of headache, fever, skin
diseases, tumors, blood diseases, dysentery, and diarrhea
Phytochemistry: ß-sitosterol and ß-amyrin(bark) , five flavonols (kaempferol and quercetin) and two coumarins (scopoletin and scopolin)
were also isolated from the leaves of the plant; Stilbene (resveratrol) was isolated from the heartwood Dibenzoxepin derivative, pacharin, from the heartwood of is reported.
Bark—highly astringent, anti-inflammatory (used in glandular inflammations, skin diseases, ulcers), cholagogue. Leaves—anthelmintic; with onion for diarrhoea. Flowers—used in haemorrhages, piles; also in cough. Seed—antibacterial.
Astringent, anthelmintic, cephalalgic
Images Content Courtesy: Ms. Avadhanam Lalithamba, Lecturer in Botany, Nellore
38 Published articles of Bauhinia racemosa
