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THE ADDITIONAL PRINCIPAL CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS (RESEARCH, EDUCATION & TRAINING) MAHARASHTRA (PUNE) PRIORITISED PLANTS BROCHURE Saraca arborescens Burm.f. (Sita-Ashok)

Saraca arborescens Burm.f. (Sita-Ashok) · The ashoka tree is considered sacred throughout the Indian subcontinent, especially in India and Srilanka. This tree has many folklorical,

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THE ADDITIONAL PRINCIPAL CHIEF

CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS

(RESEARCH, EDUCATION & TRAINING)

MAHARASHTRA (PUNE)

PRIORITISED PLANTS BROCHURE

Saraca arborescens Burm.f.

(Sita-Ashok)

Name and taxonomy: Botanical name : Synonym: Family: Common Name: Threat Status:

Saraca arborescens Burm.f.

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde Saraca indica auct. (non L.) Caesalpinaceae Site-cha-ashok (Marathi); Ashok (Hindi); Sorrowless tree (Eng.) Rare

Habit:

A slow-growing, small, evergreen, erect tree 6 to 12 m high with a smooth grey-brown bark. The crown is compact and shapely. The branchlets are spreading draped over by clusters of orange-red flowers. Leaves alternate, abruptly paripinnate and up to 30 cm long. Leaflets petiolate, oblong & lanceolate with 3-22 cm length and 1-8 cm breadth.

Distribution, habitat and climatic conditions:

The tree is found wild along streams or in shade of the evergreen forests. Indigenous to India, Sri-lanka, Burma and Malaysia. Earlier it was distributed throughout India up to an altitude of 720 m., but now it is left wild in sporadic patches. In Maharashtra it is distributed in Tilari, Sawantwadi, Matheran, Kolhapur, Ramghat.

Part used: Barks: (Active Ingredients) Haematoxylin, tannins and glycoside, leucopelargonidin and leucocyanidin.

Uses and Economic returns:

The juice obtained from boiling the bark in water is a cure for some ailments of women, and a pulp of the blossoms is one of the remedies used for dysentery. The bark is used in menorrhagia, uterine disorders and gynaecological problems as well as internal bleeding, bleeding haemorrhoids and haemorrhagic dysentry. Leaves possess blood purifying properties. Flowers used in dysentery and diabetes. Compound Preparations: Ashokarishta, Ashokaghrita

Flowering: Flowers during February to April, apetalous flowers, yellow than changes to orange red after pollination and due to sun light, very fragrant. Inflorescence is dense terminal corymb upto 50 cm long, bracteolate.

Seed collection : Collection method:

Fruits (pods) flat, leathery 14 cm x 4 cm approx., enclosed 4-8 seeds, ellipsoid-oblong, thick, cuneate at base and thick along margins. Ripe fruits are dark purple or black in colour. Pods are collected before drying between June-October. Before summer pods open naturally and seeds are dropped down on the ground for germinating in monsoon. Such seeds can be collected. Seed weight 90-100 seeds/ kg. Manual collection by picking of mature dry-pods.

Seed extraction/ pre-sowing treatment: Seed storage:

The pods dried under shed to release the seed. Insect infested seeds screened out. Not stored due to short viability i.e. less than 2 months. If stored under cold condition seed retain viability upto 6 months.

Nursery techniques / propagation

Seeds dibbled in nursery beds, germinate within 20 days, after timely watering. Germination more than 50 %. Germinated and firm plants picked out in polybags. Initial protection from rodents is required. Seed pans is recommended method for sowing seeds. Seed pans filled with soil, sand @ FYM in 1:1:1 ratio. After 30-40 days the germinated seedlings can be pricked out in polythene bags.

Silviculture / Planting techniques:

One year old saplings planted in field in 60cm x60cm x60cm size of pits at 8-10 m spacing. The growth is slow in initial two years.

Harvesting/ Extraction:

Bark is removed from middle aged tree and sun dried for use in preparation of various herbal medicines.

Activities taken up by the research wing:

Since 2001-02 the experimental trials on Sita Ashok are being taken up by the research wing on various locations like Pune, Ajra, Koyna (Chirambe), Wada, Chandrapur. The Nursery protocols are also being developed for propagation

of Asoka tree and sustainable harvesting protocol development is going to be developed through outsourcing. Provenance trial of Sita Ashok from various sources like Pune, Phukeri, Sangli, Alibag, Nagpur and Dapoli has been started in 2007 at Parwadi station of Ajra Research Range.

Propagation protocol through air layering is also successfully achieved by the Ajra Research Range.

Cultural perspective: It is believed that Sakyamuni, the founder of the Buddhist religion and doctrine of Nirvana was born under an Asoka tree in the 6th Century B.C. The tree is worshipped by all Buddhists as well as Hindus. It is dedicated to Kama Deva the god of love, who included an Asoka blossom among the five flowers in his quiver. Sita, wife of Rama, when abducted by the demon king Ravana, was kept in a garden among groves of Asoka trees. Both Buddhists and Hindus plant the trees around their temples and the blossoms are used for religious offerings. On Ashok-Shasthi day, women from Bengal eat the flower buds. Hindu ladies believe that by drinking the water in which flowers have lain, they will protect their children from grief. There is a quaint Indian belief that trees will flower only in places where a woman’s foot has trod and another which asserts that a tree will bloom more vigorously if kicked by a virgin damsel.

The ashoka tree is considered sacred throughout the Indian

subcontinent, especially in India and Srilanka. This tree has

many folklorical, religious and literary associations in the

region. Highly valued, as well, for its handsome appearance

and the colour and abundance of its flowers, the ashoka

trees are often found in royal palace-compounds and

gardens as well as close to temples throughout India.

The ashoka tree is closely associated with the Yakshi. The

sculpture of a Yakshi with her foot on the trunk and her

hands holding the branch of a flowering Ashoka tree is an

ancient symbol of fertility.

The ashoka tree is mentioned in the Ramayana as part of

the Ashoka Vatika (garden of Ashoka trees)

where Hanuman first met Sita. Hence the tree also referred

as Sita Ashoka. So dense was the tree growth at that time

that, Hanumana had to uproot many asoka trees for reaching

the place where Sita was housed. However, trees in Ashoka-

Vatica in Sri-Lanka are now considered belonging to the

different species, Saraca indica Linn.

The tree is often confused with drooping Ashupalav

(Polyalthia longifolia) ‘Mast-tree’ native of Bengal which is

planted in gardens and as an avenue tree.