PLANT OF THE WEEK

Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz. – Midnight horror tree

Botanical Name

Oroxylom indicum (L.) Kurz.

Synonyms

Bignonia indica L. Calosanthes indica (L.) Blume.

Bignonia pentandra Laur.

Family

Bignoniaceae

Conservation Status

Endangered

Local Name

English : Midnight horror tree

Hindi : Sagru

Oriya : Phanaphana

Tamil : Konda

Bengali : Sona

Habitat

It is found occasional in mixed deciduous

forests, especially in hills.

Distribution

India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia,

Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand,

Vietnam, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi,

Guizhou, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan,

Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,

Bhutan, China.

Flowering time: July-August

Fruiting time: December-March

Oroxylum indicum

~ A night bloomer ~

Description

Habit :- Oroxylum indicum is a small branched tree with 5-10 m high, laxly branched or unbranched.

Leaf :- Leaves opposite, 2-4 pinnately compound. Leaflets triangular-ovate, glabrous, becoming after drying,

base sub rounded, oblique, margin entire.

Flower :- Inflorescence racemose, terminal, calyx large, purple,

broadly campanulate, fleshy. Corolla purple-red, campanulate, limb

slightly bilabiate, tomentose basally, stamen 5, sub equal, style

filiform, stigma ligulate, compressed.

Fruit :- Capsule woody, valves with midrib, margin convex. Seed

rounded, winged including papery.

Source

Mao, A.A.; Oroxylum

indicum Vent.-A potential

anticancer Medicinal plant.

Saxena, H.O. & Brahmam,

M. (1994). The Flora of

Orissa, Vol.II,

pp: 1300-1301.

Sharma P.C.; Yelne M.B.;

Dennis T.J.(2005 ).Database

on Medicinal Plants used in

Ayurveda, Vol.II

pp: 490-499.

Sharma R. (2003).

Medicinal plants of India-

An encyclopedia,

pp 179-180.

Swain B.K & Das S.K.

(2007) Visual guide to wild

medicinal plants of Orissa,

pp 353.

www.en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/ oroxylum_indicum

www.envis.frlht.org.

8th week

12-1-2015

Uses

The bark, leaves, root, root bark, fruits, leaves and seeds are used to treat snake bite.

Bark :- The decoction of the bark is taken for curing gastric ulcer and a paste made of the

bark applied to cure mouth cancer, scabies and other skin diseases. Juice of the bark is used

as a tonic and astringent useful in diarrhea, diaphoretic, rheumatism and dysentery.

Root :- It is used to cure inflammations, leprosy, dropsy, sprains, neuralgia, hiccough,

cough, asthma, bronchitis, anorexia, dyspepsia, diarrhea, dysentery.

Root Bark :- It is used as astringent, bitter tonic, stomachic, anodyne and sudorific and also

useful in diarrhea, dysentery and ottorrhoea.

Leaf :- Paste of leaves are used externally to treat an enlarged spleen, headache and

ulcer, also used as emollient & anodyne.

Fruit :- Tender fruits are prescribed for expectorant, carminative and stomachic and

also useful in cough, bronchitis, dyspepsia, flatulence, colic and leucoderma.

The mature fruits are to cure acrid, sweet, anthelmintic and stomachic and also useful

in sore throat, cardiac disorders, worm infestations, gastric disorders, bronchitis.

Seed :- The seed are used as purgative.