Common Name: Bastard Teak

General Information

Butea monosperma is a small to medium-sized, slow-growing, deciduous tree, usually reaching a height of 5 - 15 metres, with occasional specimens up to 20 metres[]. The bole is usually short, cylindrical and crooked, and is up to 43 cm in diameter[].
Bastard teak is a typical multipurpose tree, with a wide range of medicinal and other uses[]. It is harvested from the wild in large quantities and often traded, especially for medicinal use[]. It is worshipped as sacred by the Hindus and frequently grown near houses, it is widely cultivated in S Asia, and grown as an ornamental also elsewhere, being valued for its profusion of bright orange, rarely sulphur-coloured flowers[]. The tree is planted as a forestry species with secondary usage as a medicinal plant[].
Butea monosperma has a wide native range, is often cultivated, there are no known threats affecting the species, it occurs in many protected areas, and is often grown in ex situ collections. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2020)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia.

Habitat

Found throughout the drier parts of India, often gregarious in forests, open grasslands and wastelands[]. A characteristic tree of the plains, it often forms pure patches in grazing grounds and other open places[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	12.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Pollinators	Birds
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A tree of drier areas in tropical and subtropical climates growing at low to moderate elevations up to 1,500 metres[]. It is found in areas where the mean annual temperature is in the range -4 - 49°c, and the mean annual rainfall is 450 - 4,500 mm[]. Plants can tolerate some frost, though they are usually defoliated by it[].
Plants prefer a sunny position, though they also thrive with some shade[]. Heavy shade depresses growth[]. Grows best on old alluvial soils and weathered red basalts, however it succeeds on a wide variety of soils including shallow, gravelly sites, black cotton soil, clay loams, and even saline or waterlogged soils where few other trees will grow[, ]. Seedlings thrive best on a rich loamy soil with pH 6 - 7[]. Established plants are very drought tolerant[].
A slow-growing tree[].
If allowed to grow, trees attain a height of 3 - 5 metres with a trunk 15 - 20 cm diameter in 10 years[].
Plants respond well to coppicing and pollarding, and produce root suckers freely[].
Under dryland conditions and in its natural habitat, coppice management yields roughly 100 kg/tree of air-dry fuel wood every 5 years[].
A characteristic tree of the plains, often forming pure patches in grazing grounds and other open places, escaping extermination owing to its resistance to browsing and its ability to reproduce from seed and root suckers[].
As an exotic, it has successfully been acclimatized in Israel, although it is occasionally cut back by frost. It has also been introduced in Zimbabwe[].

Edible Uses

Young roots[].

Medicinal

Butea gum, or Bengal kino, an exudate from the tannin-rich vesicles in the bark, is used medicinally[]. A powerful astringent, it is used in the treatment of diarrhoea and wounds[, ].

The seeds, ground into a paste with honey, are used for their anthelmintic, antifungal, antibacterial and purgative properties[, , ].
The seed paste, mixed with lemon juice, are used as a rubefacient[]

The seeds contain around 18% oil. Called 'moodoga oil', it is an effective treatment for hookworms[, ].

The flowers and leaves are aphrodisiac, astringent and diuretic[]. The flowers are useful in the treatment of liver disorders[]

The flowers contain butrin and isobutrin. These compounds have been shown to have antihepatotoxic principles[].

The seeds act as an anthelmintic[].

A potential anti-asthmatic agent has been reported from the bark[]

Agroforestry Uses:

Seedlings and green branches are spread in rice fields as a salt-filtering agent and green manure. Leaf-decomposing bacteria produce a slime that is able to aggregate clay particles. In the course of this process micro-cavities are formed loosening the compacted soil and allowing leaching of noxious salts from the soil solution[].
In India, farmers frequently use this tree to stabilize field bunds[].

Other Uses

The flowers are used for the preparation of a yellow dye (for silk especially, also ritually used)[].
A bright yellow to deep orange-red dye, known as butein, can be prepared from the flowers. It is used especially for dyeing silk and sometimes for cotton, and is traditionally used by Hindus to mark the forehead[]. The colour is, however, fleeting, but it may be made less so by using alum or lime as a mordant, which also deepens the colour[]. Sometimes myrabolans are used for this purpose, or the dye is combined with anatta (Bixa orellana)[].

A red dye is obtained from the roots[].

The bark is a source of tannins[].

A red exudate is obtained from the tannin-rich vesicles in the bark[, ]. It hardens into a gum, known as Butea gum, or Bengal kino and can be used medicinally, as a dye or for tannin[, , ]. It occurs in the form of round tears, often fragmentary. It may be purified by solution in water. It is of a brilliant ruby-red colour, translucent and brittle, heat rendering it more so instead of melting it[].

A small quantity of a bright, clear oil is obtained from the seeds[, , ]. The seeds contain up to 18% oil[].

A coarse, tough, fibrous material, known as 'pala fibre' is obtained from the inner bark. It is used for cordage, caulking the seams of boats and making paper[, , , ].
A strong fibre, obtained from the roots, is used in India for making native sandals, ropes etc[, ].

The soft and not durable wood is light, white or yellowish-brown when fresh, but often turning greyish because of susceptibility to sap stain. It is not of great value but is sometimes used for utensils[]. The wood is durable under water and is used to make well curbs, water dippers, sacred utensils etc[].
The wood makes a fuel of moderate quality[]. The leaves are sometimes used as a fuel[]. The wood is burnt for gunpowder charcoal[].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ[]. Germination, which starts in about 10 - 12 days, is completed in 4 weeks[]. Fresh seeds have a good germinative capacity (about 63%) at optimum germination temperature of about 30°c[]. While germinating in the wild, the seed remains in the pod which opens at the tip and allows the young shoot and root to emerge[]. The cotyledons remain attached to the seedling for a considerable time[].
Root suckers.
Air layering.

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