Oroxylum indicum
Oroxylum indicum is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Bignoniaceae.
Names
- Bignonia indica, L., Species Plantarum 2: 625. 1753.
- Spathodea indica, L., Pers. Synopsis Plantarum 2: 173. 1807.
- Calosanthes indica, L., Blume, Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië 760. 1826.
- Hippoxylon indica, L., Raf. Sylva Telluriana 78. 1838.
- Oroxylum indicum, L., Kurz, Forest Flora of British Burma 2: 237. 1877, accepted by Flora of China Editorial Committee, 1998. Fl. China Vol. 18.
- Bignonia quadripinnata, Blanco, Flora de Filipinas, Gran edicion, Atlas I. 1880-1883?
- vernacular names
- English : Broken bones plant, Indian calosanthes, Indian Trumpet, Indian trumpet flower, midnight horror,[3] oroxylum, tree of Damocles
- Chinese : 木蝴蝶 (hanyu pinyin : mù húdié, butterfly tree)
- Assamese: ভাতঘীলা Bhatghila
- Bengali : সোনা sona
- Burmese : ကြောင်လျှာသီး
- Hindi : भूत वृक्ष bhut-vriksha, दीर्घवृन्त dirghavrinta, कुटन्नट kutannat, मण्डूक manduk (the flower), पत्रोर्ण patrorna, पूतिवृक्ष putivriksha, शल्लक shallaka, शूरण shuran, सोन or शोण son, वटुक vatuk
- Kannada : ತಟ್ಟುನ tattuna
- Konkani : davamadak
- Nepalese : टटेलों tatelo
- Malayalam : പലകപയ്യാനി palaqapayyani, വാശ്പ്പാതിരി vashrppathiri, വെള്ളപ്പാതിരി vellappathiri
- Marathi : टायिटू tayitu, टेटु tetu
- Sanskrit : अरलु aralu, श्योनक shyonaka
- Singhala (Sri Lanka) : Totila,[4] Thotila[5]
- Tamil : சொரிகொன்றை cori-konnai, பாலையுடைச்சி palai-y-utaicci, பூதபுஷ்பம் puta-puspam (the flower)
- Telugu : మండూకపర్ణము manduka-parnamu, పంపెన pampena, శూకనాసము suka-nasamu, తుందిలము
- Thai: เพกา Pheka (Central Thailand), ลิ้นไม้ Lin mai (Northern Thailand & Isan), ลิ้นฟ้า Lin fa (Loei);
- other common name : kampong[6]
Description
It is a tree which can reach a height of 12 m (40 ft). The large leaf stalks wither and fall off the tree and collect near the base of the trunk, appearing to look like a pile of broken limb bones. The tree is a night-bloomer and flowers are adapted to natural pollination by bats. They form enormous seed pods that hang down from bare branches. Those long fruits curve downward and resemble the wings of a large bird or dangling sickles or swords in the night.
The seeds are round with papery wings.[7]
Distribution
Oroxylum indicum is native to the Indian subcontinent, in the Himalayan foothills with a part extending to Bhutan and southern China, in Indo-China and the Malesia ecozone.
It is visible in the forest biome of Manas National Park in Assam, India. It is found, raised and planted in large number in the forest areas of the Banswara district in the state of Rajasthan in India.
It is also reported from Sri Lanka (Ceylon).[4]
Ecology
Oroxylum indicum lives in relationship with the actinomycete Pseudonocardia oroxyli present in the soil surrounding the roots.[8]
Uses
The tree is often grown as an ornamental for its strange appearance. Materials used include the wood, tannins and dyestuffs.
As food
It is a plant with edible leaves and stems.[9] The very large young pods, known as Lin mai (ลิ้นไม้) or Lin fa (ลิ้นฟ้า) in Loei, are eaten especially in Isan (Thailand) and in Laos. They are first grilled over charcoal fire and then the somewhat bitter inner pulp is usually scraped and eaten along with lap.[10]
In traditional medicines
The Oroxylum indicum seed is used in the traditional Indian ayurvedic medicine. The root bark is also used, administered as astringent, bitter tonic, stomachic and anodyne. It is included in famous tonic formulations, such as Chyawanprash.
The bark of O. indicum (Chinese : 木蝴蝶树皮, hanyu pinyin : mù húdié shùpí) or Cortex Oroxyli is a traditional Chinese medicine ingredient.
The bark of O. indicum (Singhala / Sri Lanka: Totila, Totilla) is one of main ingredients in Sri Lankan indigenous medicine (in decoctions) as a remedy for pains in joints or rheumatism.[5]
Pharmacology
The leaf contains chrysin and baicalein.[11] Tetuin, the 6-glucoside of baicalein, is reported in the seeds.[12] Other flavonoids, known for their anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy effects, are also present, though it may need to be used in high doses to get a response. Oroxindin has also been isolated from Oroxylum indicum[13] whereas oroxylin A is reported in the root bark.[14]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.bioinfo.cn/db05/KmzwSpecies.php?action=view&id=2421
- ^ http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?26046
- ^ http://ecoport.org/ep?Plant=8133
- ^ a b Theobald, W.L. (1981). Bignoniace. In: Dassanayake, M.D. and Fosberg, F.R. (Eds.). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon. Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
- ^ a b Jayaweera, D.M.A. (1981). Medicinal Plants (Indigenous and Exotic) Used in Ceylon. Part I (Acanthaceae – Burseraceae). National Science Council of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
- ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=83951
- ^ http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=620&taxon_id=200021430
- ^ Gu Q et al. (2006)
Gu, Q., Luo, H., Zheng, W., Liu, Z., and Huang, Y. "Pseudonocardia oroxyli sp. nov., a novel actinomycete isolated from surface-sterilized Oroxylum indicum root." Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. (2006) 56:2193-2197.
- ^ http://epic.kew.org/searchepic/detailquery.do?requiredPage=1&scientificName=oroxylum+indicum&datasources=ipni&datasources=mc&datasources=kr&datasources=libcat&datasources=pmb&datasources=ebbd&datasources=ecbot&datasources=livcoll&datasources=herbcat&datasources=sid&datasources=sepasal&datasources=efz&categories=names&categories=bibl&categories=colln&categories=taxon&categories=flora&categories=misc&detailDatasource=sepasal
- ^ Thai Dishes, Central Part And South
- ^ Baicalein, a flavonoid extracted from a methanolic extract of Oroxylum indicum inhibits proliferation of a cancer cell line in vitro via induction of apoptosis.
- ^ Mehta and Metha, 1959
- ^ Oroxindin—A new flavone glucuronide fromOroxylum indicum Vent, A. G. Ramachandran Nair and B. S. Joshi, 1979
- ^ The constitution of oroxylin-A, a yellow colouring matter from the root-bark of Oroxylum indicum, vent R. C. Shah, C. R. Mehta and T. S. Wheeler
External links