Butea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Butea is also a commune in Iaşi County, Romania, see Butea, Iaşi.
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Butea or Flame of the Forest is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the pea family, Fabaceae. It includes many species of trees, shrubs, and lianas. Several species produce resins used in cosmetics or ayurvedic medicine.
Butea monosperma or Butea frondosa, also known as Flame of the Forest or Bastard Teak or Palash in Hindi, is native to India and Southeast Asia, where it is used for timber, resin, fodder, medicine, and dye. The gum from Butea called kamarkas in Hindi is used in certain food dishes. Butea is also a host to the Lac insect, which produces natural lacquer.
In West Bengal it is associated with Spring (season), and especially through poems and songs of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who likened its bright orange flame like flower to fire. In Santiniketan, where Tagore lived, this flower has become an indispensable part of the celebration of spring.
[edit] Species
- Butea acuminata
- Butea affinis
- Butea africana
- Butea apoensis
- Butea balansae
- Butea braamiana
- Butea bracteolata
- Butea buteiformis
- Butea crassifolia
- Butea dubia
- Butea ferruginea
- Butea gyrocarpa
- Butea harmandii
- Butea laotica
- Butea listeri
- Butea littoralis
- Butea loureirii
- Butea macroptera
- Butea maingayi
- Butea merguensis
- Butea minor
- Butea monosperma (syn. Butea frondosa): Flame of the Forest, Bastard Teak, Pâlāsh
- Butea oblongifolia
- Butea parviflora
- Butea pellita
- Butea peltata
- Butea philippinensis
- Butea pottingeri
- Butea pulchra
- Butea purpurea
- Butea ridleyi
- Butea riparia
- Butea rosea
- Butea sanguinea
- Butea sericophylla
- Butea spirei
- Butea squamigera
- Butea suberecta
- Butea superba
- Butea varians
- Butea volubilis
