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Indian Kino Tree
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Indian Kino Tree
D Native Photo: Kiran Srivastava
Common name: Indian Kino Tree, Vijayasar, Malabar kino tree • Hindi: विजयसार Vijayasara, बीज पत्ता Beeja patta, Bijasal, Bila • Kannada: ಹೊನ್ನೆ Honne, ಬೆಂಗೆ Benge, ಬಿಂಗೆ Binge, Bendaga mara, ಒಳ್ಳೆಹೊನ್ನೆ Ollehonne • Malayalam: Venga, honne, karintakara, karinthagara • Marathi: asaaha, asan, asana, बिबला bibla • Sanskrit: Asana, Beejaka, Petaca, Bandhukavriksha • Tamil: Vengai, Accamai, Accanapann • Telugu: aine, asana, beddagi, beeja saramu • Urdu: bijasar, dam al akhwain
Botanical name: Pterocarpus marsupium    Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)
Synonyms: Pterocarpus bilobus, Lingoum marsupium

Indian Kino Tree is a deciduous tree, up to 30 m tall, bark 10-15 mm, surface grey or greyish-black, rough, deeply vertically cracked, exfoliations small, irregular, fibrous; blaze pink; exudation blood-red. Leaves are compound, alternate; stipules small, lateral, falling off; axis 6.5-11.1 cm long, slender, hairless. Leaflets are 5-7, alternate, estipulate; leaflet-stalk 6-10 mm, slender, hairless; blade 3.5-12.5 x 2-7 cm, elliptic-oblong, oblong-ovate or oblong, base blunt or pointed, tip blunt and notched, margin entire, hairless, leathery; lateral nerves 9-20 pairs, parallel, prominent. Flowers are bisexual, yellow, at branch-ends and in leaf-axils, borne in panicles; 1.0-1.2 cm long; bracts small, dioecious; bracteoles 2, falling off; sepal tube bell-shaped, sepals short, the upper 2 often fused; flowers are protruding; petals 5, all long-clawed, crisped along the margins; standard round, wings oblique, obovate, eard; keel petals oblique, small, slightly fused; stamens 10. Fruit is a pod, 2.5-5 cm across, round-kidney-shaped, broadly winged; seed one, somewhat kidney-shaped. Indian Kino Tree is found in Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Flowering: September-October.
Medicinal uses: Parts of the Indian Kino Tree (heart wood, leaves and flowers) have long been used for their medicinal properties in Ayurveda. The heart wood is used as an astringent and in the treatment of inflammation. The wood and bark of the tree are known for their anti-diabetic activity.

Identification credit: Neil Soares Photographed in SanjayGandhi National Park, Mumbai.

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