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Butea monosperma
Also called Flame Of The Forest
In Singapore: Flame of the Forest, Bastard Teak, Palasa, Butea Gum Tree, 紫铆, 胶虫树 (Cultivated in Singapore)
Bengal kino is a small, slow-growing, dry-season deciduous tree from South and Southeast Asia, grown for its brilliant orange-red spring flowers. It is usually planted outdoors in warm climates rather than kept as a houseplant.
Butea monosperma is a species of Butea native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also known as flame of the forest, Bengal kino, dhak, palash, and bastard teak. Revered as sacred by Hindus, it is prized for producing an abundance of vivid blooms, and it is also cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental.
The plant grows across
The plant is used to make timber, resin, fodder, and dye. The wood is dirty white and soft. Being durable under water, it is used for well curbs and water scoops. Spoons and ladles made of its wood are used in various Hindu rituals to pour ghee into the fire. Good charcoal can be obtained from it. Farmers typically plant trees on field bunds and use them to reduce soil erosion. Young shoots are grazed by buffaloes as fodder. The leaves were once used to serve food where plastic plates would be used today.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Butea monosperma by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
