Digital Garden

Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb.

വേങ്ങ

Family : FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)

Synonym : Lingoum marsupium (Roxb.) Kuntze

Common Names : Karavenga, Venna, Venga, Bijasal, Bastard teak, East Indian Kino, Gammalu, Indian kino tree, Kino, Malabar kino tree

Flowering Period : September-October

Distribution : India and Sri Lanka

Habitat : Moist and dry deciduous forests, also in the plains

Uses : Resin is used in the treatment of chronic diarrhoea and the irritation caused by gastric infection and colitis. It is commonly used in cases of toothache and also as a douche to treat vaginal discharge. The resin is applied topically in the treatment of skin conditions. The bark is used, either as a powder or in decoction, in the treatment of diarrhoea. A decoction of the bark is very useful for diabetic patients. Extracts of the wood and bark are used as skin and hair conditioners in commercial cosmetic preparations. A good quality wood, it is used for various purposes.

Key Characters :

Deciduous trees, to 30 m high, bark surface grey or greyish-black, rough. Leaves imparipinnate, alternate, leaflets 5-7, alternate, elliptic-oblong. Flowers bisexual, yellow, in terminal and axillary panicles. Calyx tube campanulate; corolla exserted. Petals 5; standard orbicular, wings oblique, obovate; keel petals oblique, small. Stamens 10, monadelphous. Ovary shortly stalked, inferior, 1-celled, ovules 2; stigma capitate. Fruit a pod, broadly winged; seed one.