Bombax Ceiba

January 3rd, 2009

Batanical Name: Salmalia malabarica
Family: Malvaceae/Bombacaceae

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malvales
Genus: Bombax
Species: B. ceiba
Common Name:Semal, cotton tree or tree cotton, red silk-cotton tree, syn indian kapok, syn purani, syn simbal, syn red cotton tree, syn silk-cotton tree, syn god-tree
Sanskrit synonyms: Salmali, Mocha, Picchila, Raktapushpa, Stirayu, Poorani, Kandaka
Tamil Name: Mullilavu
English : Red silk cotton tree
Hindi : Semul, Semar
Malayalam : Ilavu, Mullilavu
Useful part : Resin, Leaves, Bark, Thorns.
Habitat: The tree is widely planted in Malay, Indonesia, south China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. According to Chinese historical record, the king of Nam Yuet, Chiu To, gave a tree to the Emperor of Han dynasty in 2nd Century BC.

Description:A tall deciduous tree grows up to 30 meters in height. Leaves palmately compund, leaflets lenceolate, acuminate, entire and large. Flowers large, red colored, found when tree sheds leaves. Fruits capsules, containing small smooth seeds embedded in long white wool. Gummy extract from bark is called semul-gum or Mocharasa, is used as medicine. Bark is guarded with numerous woody thorns.

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This tropical tree has a straight tall trunk and its leaves are deciduous in winter. Red flowers with 5 petals appear in the spring before the new foliage. It produces a capsule which, when ripe, contains white fibres like cotton. Its trunk bears spikes to deter attacks by animals. Although its stout trunk suggests that it is useful for timber, its wood is too soft to be very useful.

Cultivation: It is widely planted in parks and on roadsides there because of its beautiful red flowers which bloom in March/April. This tree is quite common in New Delhi although it doesn’t reach its full size of 60m there because of the semi arid climate. The cotton fibers of this tree can be seen floating in the wind around the time of early may.

This tree shows two marked growth sprints in India- in spring and during the monsoon months.

Uses:
The cotton inside the fruits was used a substitute for cotton. The flower was a common ingredient in Chinese herb tea.

In Guangdong, the tree is known as muk min ( lit. wood cotton) or hung min ( lit. red cotton). It is also known as Ying Hung Shue (lit. hero tree), for its straight and tall trunk. The tree flower is the flower emblem of Guangzhou and Kaohsiung. Folk knowledge in Hong Kong states that soon after the tree blooms, the weather will get hotter.

Principal Constituents:Preliminary tests show the presence of glyclsydes and tanins from roots, stem and leaf. In the stem some alkaloids and root proteins are identified. The stem bark contains lupeol and b-sitostrol. The root bark has 3 naphthalene derivatives related to gossypol (toxic principle of cotton seed) and called ‘Semigossypol’. Flowers contain b-sitosterol, traces of essential oil, kaemphorol and quercetin. On hydrolysis gum yeld arabinose, galacturonic acid and rhamnose.

Medicinal Properties:
Plant pacifies vitiated pitta, wounds, ulcers, skin diseases, hemorrhoids, urinary calculus, cystitis, inflammations, cough, bronchitis and dark discolorations on face.

Ayurvedic Properties :
Rasa : Madhura, Kashaya
Guna : Guru, Snigdha, Picchila
Virya : Seeta
Vipaka : Madhura

Medicinal & Herbal Uses:The flower was a common ingredient in Chinese herb tea.The traditional healers of Chhattisgarh in India use the fresh young roots of Semal as sex tonic. Like collection of other herbs they perform special worship ceremony and collect the roots. For collection, Mondays are preferred. The healers have no scientific explanation on why the roots are collected on Mondays? The roots spreading in North direction are preferred. The trees present in surroundings of Semal play vital role in increasing or decreasing the medicinal properties. The Semal tree, nearer to Pipal or Bar (Ficus religiosa and Ficus benghalensis) trees, is not preferred.

Semal gond (gum), known as Mochras in trade, is also used as medicine by the natives and traditional healers of Chhattisgarh. As aphrodisiac, it is given with sugar and cow milk. In treatment of diarrhoea, it is used by healers by adopting different methods. Many healers give it with fresh curd whereas other recommend the powdered gum simply with sugar. It is found that both methods are effective.

The natives of Chhattisgarh Plains, use the powdered gum as tooth powder. According to them, its regular use root out all dental and gum related troubles. It is also used as preventive. The traditional healers of Bilaspur region, use the spines of Semal in many ways. With sugar, the powdered spines are used as female tonic. In face care, to remove the black spots, the natives mix the powered spines in cow milk and prepare paste. This paste is applied externally. During surveys in Bagbahera forest areas, it is heard about the use of Semal roots in treatment of scorpion bite.But yet not seen its practical use.

Similarly, like the medicinal uses of Fudhar Floss (Calatropis gigantea), the natives and healers of Chhattisgarh are not much aware of medicinal uses of Semal Floss. The natives of Tilda region informs that the cotton of Semal is applied directly on fresh burns to stop the formation of blisters and to heal it quickly.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmalia_malabarica

http://www.botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/151_semai.html

http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/herbfinder/h_bombax.htm

http://ayurvedicmedicinalplants.com/plants/87.html