Herbarium JCB

Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taubert

Family : FABACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Subfamily : Faboideae
Species : Butea monosperma
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.
Common name : Flame of the Forest
Vernacular name : Palasha (San.); Dhak, Palasa (Hin.); Palasha, Mutthugada mara (Kan.)
Collection Nos : KFP 5441, KFP 6109, HFP 1341, CJS 13227
Collector(s) Name : C.J.Saldanha; T.P.Ramamoorthy
Key identification features : A moderate-sized native tree which is highly ornamental when in bloom. Bark grey-brown, flaky. Leaves are pinnately 3-foliate with large leaflets. The flowers are bright-red or orange-red in colour and 3-3.5 cm long. Pod is a broad, oblong follicle.
Habit : Tree
Native : India
Comments : Host tree most used to rear lac insects, producing shellac. Leaves are used as a dinner plate. Sometimes also cultivated in parks.
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Collection Locality : Byaba State Forest (Hassan); Byaba State Forest (Hassan)
Distribution Locality : Bagalkot, Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chamrajnagar, Chikamagalur, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Yadgir
Floras referred : Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan; Saldanha, 1984; Gowda, 2004 - Sringeri; Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Bangalore; Seetharam et al., 2000 - Gulbarga; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Coorg; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara