• Family : FABACEAE
  (Pea Or Bean Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : LEGUMINOSAE
• Subfamily : Faboideae
• Basionym : Erythrina monosperma Lam.
• Synonym(s) : Butea frondosa Koenig ex Roxb.
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.
• Common name : Flame of the Forest, Bastard teak, Bengal kino tree
• Vernacular name : Dhak, Palasa (Hindi); Palasha, Mutthugada mara (Kannada); Purasu, Porasu (Tamil); Moduga, Mathaka (Telugu); Palasa (Oria); Palasha (Sanskrit); Palas (Marathi); Brahmavriksham, Chamatha, Mukkappuyam, Plasu, Palasinsamatha (Malayalam)
• Habit : Tree
• Habitat : Deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Common in open deciduous forests up to 1000m. The flowers are attractive and a good source of nectar for pollinators.
• Key identification features : Leafless during flowering
• Flower, Fruit : January-July
• Collector(s) Name : Raja K.Swamy
• Collection Nos : FAP 40019
• Collection Locality : Kalasamudram RF, Anantapur district (AP)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : All districts of Andhra Pradesh
  • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Kannur district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Alappuzha district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Maharashtra : Akola district
  • Odisha : Khurda district
  • Tamil Nadu : Kanchipuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Coimbatore district, Dharmapuri district, The Nilgiri district, Vellore district, Tiruvannamalai district, Ramanathapuram district, Salem district, Villipuram district, Cuddalore district, Tiruchirapalli district
• World Distribution : India, Indo-China, Tropical Himalayas, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailan
• Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2002 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Butea monosperma. Downloaded on 2 June 2024.

Botanical Description

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