Chandigarh Forests
Department of Forest & Wildlife
UT Administration
Chandigarh
Department of Forest & Wildlife
|
Division
|
Angiosperms |
|
Class
|
Dicotledons |
|
Subclass
|
Polypetalae |
|
Series |
Calyciflorae |
|
Order |
Rosales |
|
Family |
Caesalpiniaceae |
|
Genus |
Bauhinia |
|
Species |
tomentosa |
|
Botanical name:
|
Bauhinia tomentosa Linn. |
|
Local/Trade names: |
St. Thomas-Tree, Champa, Pita Kanchana |
|
Conservation status:
|
Commonly planted in gardens. |
|
Digonestic features: |
Flowers yellow. |
|
Description: |
A large shrub or small tree. Bark grey. Leaves 4-7 cm across, a little broader than long, deeply cleft with a bristle at the cleft; lobes obtuse at the apex, truncate or subcordate base, 7-9-nerved. Flowers usually in pairs, yellow, on axillary or leaf-opposed peduncles. Pod 10-13 cm long, light-brown. Seeds 8-12. |
|
Phenology:
|
Fls.: July-Aug. Frts.: Jan.-Feb. |
|
Distribution:
|
Wild or cultivated, extending to China and Tropical Africa. |
|
Where to see it: |
Flowering Tree section. |
|
Uses: |
Decoction of root-bark used for inflammation of liver and as vermifuge. Bark yields a fibre. Leaves used as a yellow dye with turmeric. Dried leaves, buds, and flowers used in dysentery. Fruits diuretic. Seeds used as a tonic, yield a fatty oil called ebony oil. |
