Bauhinia Variegate
Family : Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae
Common Name : Mountain Ebony
English Name : Mountain Ebony
Hindi Name : Kachnar
Telugu Name : Deva Kanchanamu
Bengali Name : Kanchan
Tree Characteristics :
Mountain ebony is a fast-growing, attractive, deciduous tree with a dense, spreading crown; it can grow up to 12 metrestall. The tree often has more than one main bole; the bole is short and often crooked.A multipurpose tree, it is gathered from the wild for food, medicine and many other commodities. The tree is extremely handsome in flower and is often grown as an ornamental, hedge plant or street tree in tropical areas. It is valued particularly for its showy fragrant, pink, purple or white flowers.
Nursery:
Seed - pre-soak for 24 hours in warm water then sow in situ. This is more successful than growing in a nursery bed and planting out when one year old. If sowing in a nursery seedbed, then the plants should be placed in their final positions whilst they are still small - they can attain a height of 1 metre within 1 month of germinating, with roots 50cm long. The seed germinates readily within 4 - 10 days, showing a high degree of fertility even after 12 months storage. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, with the leaves removed, in moist sand July/August in a frame. Gentle bottom heat is usually required.
Economic Uses :
The bark is alterative, anthelmintic, astringent and tonic. The juice of the bark is used in the treatment of amoebic dysentery, diarrhoea and other stomach disorders. A paste of the bark is useful in the treatment of cuts and wounds, skin diseases, scrofula and ulcers
The dried buds are used in the treatment of piles, dysentery, diarrhoea and worms
The juice of the flowers is used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery and other stomach disorders
The root is used as an antidote to snake poison. A decoction of the root is used to treat dyspepsia.
