Month: December 2010

Caesalpinia coriaria

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Botanical Name:: Caesalpinia coriaria Willd
Family : Fabaceae – Pea family /Leguminosai, Caesalpinioideae.
Genus : Caesalpinia L. – nicker
Species : Caesalpinia coriaria (Jacq.) Willd. – divi divi
Order : Fabales
Kingdom :   Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom : Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision:   Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division :   Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class : Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Synonyms: Caesalpinia coriaria (Jacq.) Willd.
Common Names: Tauribeej, Divi-divi, Liby-liby, American Sumach,Tamil – Kotivelamaram

Habitat :Caesalpinia coriaria is a leguminous tree or large shrub native to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.The tree is also the native tree to Aruba.

Description :
They rarely reach their maximum height of 9 m (30 ft) because their growth is contorted by the weather of the exposed coastal sites where they often grow. In other environments it grows into a low dome shape with a clear sub canopy space. Leaves are bipinnate, with 5-10 pairs of pinnae, each pinna with 15-25 pairs of leaflets; the individual leaflets are 7 mm long and 2 mm broad. The fruit is a twisted pod 5 cm (2.0 in) long. Aruba is where the Divi-divi tree is most common.
..…CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
The Divi-divi is one of the more well known species of Cæsalpinia; it is the national tree of Curaçao. It is also very common and popular on Aruba, where it is alternatively known as watapana. On these islands this tree is never straight because of the trade winds.

This is the national tree of Curacao. In sheltered locations, the tree is symmetrical with a spreading mounded top as shown in the illustration. Exposed to the prevailing winds, however, it leans away from the wind, and its top, growing mostly to the lee side, appears to be blown out horizontally in the wind. In this characteristic it can be confused with Crescentia cujete (calabash tree) which may do the same. The pods are a rich source of tannin. As a tree it grows to approximately 30 feet tall.

Leaves alternate, 2x even-pinnate; leaflets numerous, regularly nearly touching to overlapping; each less than 1/2″ long. The leaf is as fine as the Sweet acacia. Flowers are small, in terminal clusters, white or yellow, pea-like, inconspicuous, very fragrant and attractive to bees. Fruit are small curved, dished, or twisted flat pod with rounded ends, about 1 in. wide; often little longer than wide. The trunk and branches are gnarled, with gray bark.

Medicinal Uses:
The Divi-divi pods are used to extract tannins for the leather production.

Click to see
*Anti-bacterial activity of Caesalpinia coriaria (Jacq.) Willd.
against plant pathogenic Xanthomonas pathovars: an ecofriendly
approach:

*Antibacterial Evaluation of Some Plant Extracts Against Some Human Pathogenic Bacteria

Other Uses: Very good for bonsai ->

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divi-divi
http://www.bonsai-bci.com/species/dividivi.html
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CACO28
http://www.eol.org/pages/703536
http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=caco28_001_ahp.tif

Tags Acacia, Biology, Caesalpinia, Fabaceae, Flora and Fauna, Flowering plant, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Plant

Herbs & Plants

Buxus wallichiana

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Botanical Name:Buxus wallichiana Baill
Family: Buxaceae
Genus: Buxus
Species: Buxus wallichiana

Common Name : Papri, Papdi

Habitat : In moist hills in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (Punjab, U.P., Kumaon) Nepal and Bhutan. North Himalayas; Kumaon, Wallich 7978 (K); Strachey and Winterbottom; Jumna valley, Jacquemont 694 (P).

Description:
An evergreen shrub or small tree, sometimes up to 10 m tall. Stem straight, bark ash grey, young shoots tetragonal, hirsute, hairs spreading. Leaves lanceolate oblanceolate or very narrowly obovate or elliptic oblong, 1.5-6 cm long, 0.8-l.2 cm broad, attenuate at the base, obtuse or somewhat emarginate or apiculate at the apex, glabrous except the hirsute petiole and midrib on upper side, veins conspicuous. Racemes 6-8 mm long, rounded. Floral parts akin to those of last species. Capsule ovoid, walnut brown, 7- 10 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter, horns diver-gent, c. 2-3 mm long.

click to see….>..(1).…..(2)....….(3)…
It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from April to May. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Bees, flies.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Cultivation:
Succeeds in almost any soil that is well-drained. Tolerates light shade and chalky soils[1, 200]. Tolerates a pH range from 5.5 to 7.4. This species is perfectly hardy in much of Britain, tolerating temperatures down to about -10°c, but it is very slow growing . The foliage is pungently scented, especially when wet.

Plants can be grown as a hedge, they are very tolerant of pruning but are slow growing.

Propagation:
Seed – stratification is not necessary but can lead to more regular germination. The seed is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Sow stored seed as early in the year as possible in a cold frame. It usually germinates in 1 – 3 months at 15°c but stored seed can take longer. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of short side shoots with a heel, September in a frame. Difficult[182, 200]. Nodal cuttings in spring in a frame. Difficult

Medicinal Uses :
Bitter; Diaphoretic; Febrifuge; Purgative.

The wood is diaphoretic. The leaves are bitter, diaphoretic and purgative. They have proved useful in the treatment of rheumatism and syphilis. The bark is febrifuge.

Traditionally Buxus wallichiana is used as bittertonic, diaphoretic, anti-rheumatic, vermifuge, antihelmentic, analgesic, purgative, diuretic, antiepileptic, antileprotic and in hemorrhoids. This paper deals with the macroscopic, microscopic and powdered studies of Buxus wallichiana wood, along with this physical constants like ash values and extractive values and preliminary phytochemical analysis were studied. Preliminary phytochemical analysis shows the presence of steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids.

You may click to see :
EVALUATION OF HAIR GROWTH ACTIVITY OF BUXUS WALLICHIANA BAILL EXTRACT IN RATS :

Other Uses:
The wood is uniformly light yellow to brownish yellow, smooth, hard, even tex¬tured, with silky lustre and without distinction between sap wood and heart wood. Boxwood is highly durable and is used for engravings, fine carving, turning and for manufacturing drawing, geometrical and musical instruments, snuff boxes and combs.

Scented Plants
Leaves: Crushed
The foliage is pungently scented, especially when wet.

Known Hazards:The leaves have been reported to be fatal to cattle and other browsing animals except goats. They taste bitter due to the presence of alkaloids like buxines.

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://server9.web-mania.com/users/pfafardea/database/plants.php?Buxus+wallichiana
http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Buxus_wallichiana
http://vaniindia.org.whbus12.onlyfordemo.com/herbal/plantdir.asp
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=242309443
http://scindeks.nb.rs/article.aspx?artid=1821-21581001051N

Tags April, Biology, Buxus, Diaphoresis, Flora and Fauna, Garden, Himalayas, Home, Kumaon, Kumaon division, Leaf, Leaf shape, PH, Plant, Plants

Herbs & Plants

Buchanania lanzan Spreng

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Botanical Name :Buchanania lanzan Spreng
Family: Anacardiaceae (Cashew family)
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales
Genus: Buchanania
Species: Buchanania lanzan

Synonyms: Buchanania latifolia, Chironjia sapida
Common name: Chironji Tree, almondette, calumpong nut, Cheronjee, Cuddapah almond, Hamilton mombin • Hindi: char, chironji, chiraunji, piyal, pra-savak, priyal • Marathi: char, charoli, piyal • Tamil: charam • Malayalam: muungaappeezh, nuramaram • Telugu: char, charumamidi, priyaluvu, raj-adanamu • Kannada: charoli, kole maavu • Bengali: chironji, piyal, sarop • Oriya: charu, chanhra • Konkani: char • Urdu: chironji • Assamese: piyal • Gujarati: charoli • Sanskrit: akhatth, muni, piyala, prasavakh, priyala, rajanadanha, upavatth • Nepali: chiraunjee

Habitat :Buchanania lanzan, which is cultivated across India, primarily in the northwest.

Description:
Buchanania lanzan Spreng or Chironji Tree is a medium-sized deciduous tree, growing to about 50 ft tall. It bears fruits each cotaining a single seed, which is popular as an edible nut, known as chironji. It is common in our forests mostly in eroded ravine lands. It avoids waterlogged areas, but occurs locally in clay soils. It can be identified by the dark grey crocodile bark with red blaze. A good species for afforesting bare hill slopes. It has tickly leathery leaves which are broadly oblong, with blunt tip and rounded base. Leaves have 10-20 pairs of straight, parallel veins. Pyramidal panicles of greenish while flowers appear in early spring. Fruits ripen from April to May and remain on the tree for quite a long time. Flowering: January-March.

You may click to see the pictures

(1).……(2)…

Medicinal uses: The roots are acrid, astringent, cooling, depurative and constipating, and are useful in treatment of diarrhoea. Leaves are used in the treatment of skin diseases. Fruits are used in treating cough and asthma.

Edible uses:After the hard shell is cracked, the stubby seed within is as soft as a pine nut. Seeds of Buchanania lanzan used as a cooking spice primarily in India.
Used in different Indian sweet preparations. However, they are also ground into powders for thickening savory sauces and flavoring batters, and stewed into rich, meaty kormas.

Click to see : TEMPTATION; Charoli Nuts Flavor the Dishes, and Memories, of Indian Chefs :

Jaipur Mewe Ka Pulao :->

Medicinal uses: The roots are acrid, astringent, cooling, depurative and constipating, and are useful in treatment of diarrhoea. Leaves are used in the treatment of skin diseases. Fruits are used in treating cough and asthma.

Buchanania lanzan seeds are used in the Ayurveda and Unani system of medicine.

Click to see:
Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Methanolic extract of
Buchanania Lanzan :

Multiple shoot formation and plant regeneration of a
commercially-useful tropical plant, Buchanania lanzan (Spreng) :

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charoli
http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Chironji%20Tree.html
http://grade.kk.ac.th/picture/2553/botanical/gallery/009%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A7%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99/009/index.html

Tags Ayurveda, Charoli, Hindi, India, Indian sweets, Konkani language, Marathi language, Unani

Herbs & Plants

Buddleya asiatica

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Botanical Name :Buddleya asiatica Lour
Family:Buddlejaceae

Common Name:White butterfly bush

Other name: Buddleja, buddleia,white butterfly bush, Butterfly bush, Dog tail, winter flowering lilac
Habitat :This plant is he Most attractive plant in butterfly bush family.White butterfly bush is a native to eastern asia.The plan is a perennial that can easily propagated by cutting. the most special characteristic of buddleia (sometimes call buddleja) or commonly known in western as dogtail is the heavenly fragrant white flower.It grows in thickets and recently cleared places at medium altitudes, sometimes at sea level and up to 2,000 meters.

Description:
Buddleya asiatica Lour is an erect, branched perennial shrub growing 1 to 2 meters high . Branches and lowers surfaces of the leaves are densely hairy, soft and smooth to the touch on account of the small, numerous, grayish or brownish hairs. Leaves are lanceolate, 5 to 15 cm long, pointed at the base, tapering to a sharp and pointed tip, and toothed at the margins. Flowers are white, 3.5 to 4 mm long, hairy and borne in large numbers on ample panicles which grow up to 15 cm long. Fruit is a reflexed capsule, oblong, and about as long as the flower.
..click & see the pictures..
Winter Flowering Lilac blooms in late winter and early spring and often looks like it is all flowers with no leaves at all. When the flowers are finished the shrub tends to look dead. Unlike, the more common Buddleia davidiis, B. asiatica blooms on year old wood so we do not prune until late spring when we can see what branches will make it through the winter.

Soon new bright green leaves with felty white undersides will grow, but the shrub will remain without flowers the rest of the season
The fragrance of this Buddleia more than makes up for the short season of flowers. While the B. davidiis do have a luscious honey aroma, it doesn’t waft through the air with the heavenly scent of Freesias like Buddleia asiatica.

Native to Asia, this warm weather butterfly bush has naturalized itself, probably spread by wind, on moist lava beds in Hawaii. Amazingly, they grow and thrive, but don’t get as tall as they would in an irrigated garden.

Constituents:
Study yielded free sugars (mannitol and sucrose), steroids (beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, stigmasterol-O-glucosdie, beta-sitosterol-O-glucoside), iridoid glucosides (methyl catalpol, catalpol, aucubin), phenylpropanoids (isoacteoside and aceoside), a triterpene saponin (mimengoside A), flavonoids (linarin and disomin).

Medicinal Uses:
Folkloric
In the Philippines, plant used to induce abotion.
Also used for various skin diseases.
Used as cure for weight loss.
In Pakistan, used as abortifacient and contraceptive.

Studies
• Buddlin: Study isolated a new compound, buddlin, from the whole plant of B asiatica.
• Asiatisides: Study yielded four new phenylpropanoid esters of rhamnose, asiatisides A-D, with the known compounds, buergeriside C1, p-methoxycinnamic acid, ferulic acid, and O-methylferulic acid, from the aerial parts of B asiatica.
• Antihepatotoxic: Study isolated a new natural compound, 6-O-(3″,4″-dimethoxycinnamoyl) catalpol, from the defatted alcoholic extract of the flowering parts of B asiatica. The flowering parts and roots showed substantial antihepatotoxic activity comparable to the lignan silymarin.
• Non-Phenolic Antioxidants: Study of methanol extract of leaves of B asiatica showed antioxidant activity towards well known in vitro antioxidant tests. Four non-phenolic compounds were isolated and identified

Resources:
http://www.stuartxchange.com/Malasambung.html
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/budasiatica.htm
http://www.californiagardens.com/Plant_Pages/buddleia_asiatica.htm
http://flowersofmalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/04/butterfly-bush-budleia.html

Tags Beta-Sitosterol, Biology, Buddleja, Flower, Freesia, Garden, Philippines, United States

Herbs & Plants

Butea superba

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Botanical name : Butea superba Roxb.
Family : Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Genus:Butea
Species: B. superba
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:Fabales
Sanskrit synonyms :Latapalasa
Common Names : Phul, Kesu, Tesu phool
Plant name in different language :
English : Red kwao kruva.
Hindi : Latapalas
Malayalam : Valli plash, Valli chamata

Habitat : Grows in Thailand and throughout central and southern India .This plant can be found growing in forests in the Northern regions,the Eastern regions and along Kanchanaburi Province, of Thailand.

Description :
A perennial twinning shrub grows over trees and hedges. Leaves trifoliate, with equal sized oblong-ovate leaflets, petiole long and stipulate. Flowers yellowish papilonacious flowers, found in clusters. Fruits compressed pods bearing laterally compressed seeds.

CLICK TO SEE THE PICTURES.
One branch has 3 leaves and the flowers are of a yellowish orange color. This plant grows in the open and the long roots of the plant are buried under the ground, similar to the roots of a yam. The roots of the mature plant are 8 to 9 inches long before they turn into tubers in the shape of elephant tusks. On cutting, the tubers reveal many red fibers and leaks red sap. This type of plant reproduces through seeds and the separation of its roots.

Butea Superba has the characteristics of being a crawling vine that wraps itself around large trees. One branch has three leaves. The flowers are of a yellowish orange color, and the plant grows in the open area. The long roots of the plant are buried under the ground, similar to the roots of a yam.
Click to see :History of Butea Superba :

Chemical Constituents: The tuberous roots of Butea superba were found to contain flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides as well as sterol compounds, including ?-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol

Medicinal Uses:
Parts Used : Bark, Leaves, Flowers, Seeds, Gum.
Plant pacifies vitiated vata, kapha, hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, intestinal worms, diabetes, colic, flatulence, inflammation, hypertension, arthritis, sexual weakness, premature ejaculation and skin diseases. Watery sap from stems is used for drinking purposes. Bark is used in tonics and elixirs

The roots and stem of the plant are medicines used for strength and power. In addition, the roots and stem of the plant are considered to help increase male sexual performance. Thus, this plant has come to be known as a miracle herb. Since Butea Superba helps to enhance human health, it was considered to be an essential factor to entity the chemical constituents of this herb.

You may click to see :History of Butea Superba :

*The man behind Butea Superba :

*Research of Butea Superba :
*Effects of Butea Superba :
*Case Studies of Butea Superba :

Resources:
http://vaniindia.org.whbus12.onlyfordemo.com/herbal/plantdir.asp
http://ayurvedicmedicinalplants.com/plants/7806.html
http://www.stbotanica.com/history-butea-superba.htm
http://www.vitroman.com/en/index_en.asp?pageID=butea-superba

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