Wednesday, 8 October 2025

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) W.J.de Wilde

 

Family: Fabaceae

SynonymJonesia asoca Roxb.

Vernacular name: Ashokam. Hemapushpam

Habit: Tree

Habitat: Semi evergreen forests, cultivated

Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh. Introduced in cultivation in Malaysia

Flowering & Fruiting: March-October

Key identification features: Habit- Small trees. Trunk often tubercled; bark lenticellate, dark, shallowly fissured; blaze purplish. Leaves compound, paripinnate, alternate, distichous; stipules caducous; flowers orange, sometimes white; fragrant. Fruit and Seed Pod, flat, oblong,  apiculate; seeds obovate-orbiculate.

Uses: Although it is considered highly medicinal Karbis use to chew the fruit as substitute for arecanut. Usually planted for ornamental purposes.

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