![Dhak (Butea monosperma) flowers in Kolkata I IMG 4225](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Dhak_%28Butea_monosperma%29_flowers_in_Kolkata_I_IMG_4225.jpg)
![Butea monosperma Bagh-e-Jinnah](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Butea_monosperma_Bagh-e-Jinnah.jpg)
''Butea monosperma'' is a species of ''
Butea'' native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
, ranging across
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
,
Sri Lanka,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
,
Laos,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, and western
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
Common names include flame-of-the-forest, palash, and bastard teak.
Revered as sacred by
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, it's prized for producing an abundance of vivid blooms, but it's also cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental. ''Butea monosperma'', which grows slowly, creates a stunning specimen tree.
Description
It is a small-sized
dry-season deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
, growing to tall. It is a slow-growing tree: young trees have a growth rate of a few feet per year. The
leaves are pinnate, with an petiole and three leaflets, each leaflet long. The
flowers
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
are long, bright orange-red, and produced in
racemes up to long. The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is a
pod long and broad.
[Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .]
Flowers frequently have a spectacular late-winter bloom. Each flower features five
petals
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usually ...
, two wings, and a keel that resembles the beak of a curled parrot. If winter season is too cold, too dry, or too rainy, trees may not blossom.
History
Historically, Palash originated in Bihar and Jharkhand. Dhak forests covered much of the
Doaba
Doaba also known as Bist Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba is called "Doabi". Th ...
area between the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and the
Yamuna
The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...
, but these were cleared for agriculture in the early 19th century as the
English East India Company increased tax demands on the peasants.
Use
It is used for timber, resin, fodder, medicine, 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 this tree are used in various Hindu rituals to pour
ghee into the fire. Good charcoal can be obtained from it. Farmers typically utilise trees on field bunds and use them to reduce soil erosion. The young shoots are mostly used by buffaloes as fodder. The leaves were used by earlier generations of people to serve food where plastic plates would be used today.
Lac Production
The tree serves as a crucial host in India for the
lac
Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''.
Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...
bug (
Laccifer lacca
''Kerria lacca'' is a species of insect in the family Kerriidae, the lac insects. These are in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. This species is perhaps the most commercially important lac insect, being a main source of lac, a resin ...
), which creates
shellac
Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...
. It produces the most lac sticks per hectare of any lac tree.
Leather Production
The bark produces a crimson exudate that, when dried, hardens into a substance called "
Butea gum" or "Bengal kino." The gum is considered valuable by druggists because of its astringent qualities and by leather workers because of its
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.
The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...
.
Culinary Use
The gum from the tree, called ''kamarkas'' in
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
, is used in certain food dishes.
Adivasis
The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...
in India prepare a summer beverage out of tea of the flower which is considered to have medicinal benefit
Patravali Plate
In villages of many parts of India, for example in
Maharashtra, this tree provides the leaves that are used either with many pieced together or singly (only in case of a banana leaf) to make a leaf-plate for serving a meal. Up until a century ago, a would-be-son-in-law was tested on his dexterity in making this plate and bowl (used to serve daal, gravy dishes) before being declared acceptable by the father-in-law-to-be.
Dye
The flowers are used to prepare a traditional
Holi
Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
colour called "Kesari". It is also used as a dye for fabric.
Butein
Butein is a chalcone of the chalconoids. It can be found in ''Toxicodendron vernicifluum'' (or formerly ''Rhus verniciflua''), ''Dahlia'', ''Butea'' (''Butea monosperma'') and ''Coreopsis'' It has antioxidative, aldose reductase and advanced glyca ...
, a vibrant yellow to deep orange-red dye made from the flowers, is used mostly for dying silk and occasionally for dying cotton.
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
ink their foreheads with this colour.
Plantation Guide
Best grown in sunny tropical locations. Best performance occurs in deep, fertile, organically rich, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Add surface mulch. Needs consistent moisture, but soils should begin to dry as winter approaches to encourage leaf drop by the beginning of winter. Plants should be sited in areas protected from strong winds.
Literature
References to this tree are often found in Punjabi literature. The Punjabi poet
Harinder Singh Mahboob employed its symbolism in his poems.
''A History of the Sikhs Vol. 1'', written by famous Punjabi writer
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...
, describes
Punjab's landscape as: "''While the margosa is still strewing the earth with its brittle ochre leaves, the silk cotton, the coral and
the flame of the forest burst into flowers of bright crimson, red, and orange.''"
In
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's short story ''Beyond the Pale'' (contained in
Plain Tales from the Hills
''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the '' Civil and Military Ga ...
, published in 1888), he says of the dhak: ''The flower of the dhak means diversely "desire", "come", "write", or "danger", according to the other things with it.'' The tree was also featured in
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...
in the story ''Tiger! Tiger!'' as the tree Mowgli instructs his wolf-brother Grey Brother to wait under for a signal that Shere Khan has returned.
The first sloka of the Sukla Yajurveda speaks about the Palasa tree. The Palasa tree branch is cut and trimmed by the Adhvaryu priest who performed the practical part of sacrifice, the day before a new moon or a full moon, and used it to drive the calves away from cows whose milk was to form a part of the offerings for the next day's special ceremony.
Cultural Associations
According to legend, the tree sprang from a falcon's feather that was infused with soma. The right side of Yama's body is where the plant, according to Vayupurana, had its start. This lovely tree is revered by both
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Buddhists. Legend has it that Queen Mahamaya grabbed a limb from this tree as soon as her son
Gautam Buddha Gautama, Gautam or Gotama may refer to:
Ancient sages and philosophers
* Akṣapāda Gautama, a Hindu sage and founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy: see Nyāya Sūtras
* Indrabhuti Gautama, chief disciple of Mahavira
* Gautama Buddha, th ...
was born.
In
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
, it is associated with
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
, especially through the poems and songs of Nobel Laureate
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
, who likened its bright orange flame-like flower to fire. In
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
, where
Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resha ...
and Vishalnarayan lived, this flower has become an indispensable part of the celebration of spring. The plant has lent its name to the town of
Palashi
Palashi or Plassey ( bn, পলাশী, Palāśī, translit-std=ISO, , ) is a village on the east bank of Bhagirathi River, located approximately 50 kilometres north of the city of Krishnanagar in Kaliganj CD Block in the Nadia Distri ...
, famous for the historic
Battle of Plassey fought there.
In the state of
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...
, palash is associated with folk tradition. Many folk literary expressions describe palash as the forest fire. The beauty of dry deciduous forests of Jharkhand reach their height when most trees have shed their leaves and the Palash is in its full bloom.
Palash is also the
State Flower of Jharkhand.
It is said that the tree is a form of
Agni
Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...
, the God of fire and war. In
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...
, these flowers are specially used in the worship of
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
on occasion of
Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the Tandava, heavenly dance called Tandava.
In every month of the luni-solar ...
. In
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
, this tree is called ''Moduga chettu''.
In
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, it is called ''plasu'', ''chamata'' or ''vishalnarayan''. ''Chamata'' is the vernacular version of Sanskrit word ''harinee'', small piece of wood that is used for ''agnihotra'' or the fire ritual. In most of the old
Nambudiri
The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Nampoothiri, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal el ...
(Kerala Brahmin) houses, one can find this tree because this is widely used for their fire ritual. Tamil Brahmins have a daily agnihotra ritual called ''Samidha Dhanan'', where barks of this tree is a main component for agnihotra, and this ritual is very essential for ''brahmachari''s during the first year of ''brahmacharya''.
In
Theravada Buddhism
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
, called ''
Medhankara'' – මේධංකර, ''Butea monosperma'' is said to have been used as the tree to achieve enlightenment, or Bodhi, by
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
. The plant is known as කෑල in
Sinhala.
Other Names
![Palash Tree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Palash_Tree.jpg)
Flame-of-the-forest is otherwise known as tamāla (तमाल) (Sanskrit), ḍhāk (ढाक) (Nepali), bastard teak, parrot tree (Eng.), chichra tesu, desuka jhad, dhaak, palash, chalcha, kankrei, chheula (छेउला) (
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
), paḷas (पळस) (
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
), kesudo (કેસુુડો) (
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
), palashpapra (
), Muthuga (ಮುತ್ತುಗ) (
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
), kinshuk, polash (পলাশ)
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, pauk (
Burmese), polāx (পলাশ) in
Assamese, porasum, parasu (
Tamil
), muriku, shamata (
Mal.), moduga (మోదుగ) (
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
), khakda (Guj.), kela (
Sinh.),
ploso (
Javanese), palash ପଳାଶ (
Odia), semarkat api (
Malay), Palay (
Pushto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
).
In Sanskrit, the flower is extensively used as a symbol for the arrival of spring and the colour of love.
Jayadeva
Jayadeva (; born ), also spelt Jaideva, was a Sanskrit poet during the 12th century. He is most known for his epic poem '' Gita Govinda'' which concentrates on Krishna's love with the '' gopi'', Radha, in a rite of spring. This poem, which pres ...
in the
Gita Govinda
The ''Gita Govinda'' ( sa, गीत गोविन्दम्; ) is a work composed by the 12th-century Hindu poet, Jayadeva. It describes the relationship between Krishna, Radha and ''gopis'' (female cow herders) of Vrindavan.
The ''Gita ...
compares these blossoms to the red nails of
Kamadeva
Kama ( sa, काम, ), also known as Kamadeva and Manmatha, is the Hindu god of love and desire, often portrayed alongside his consort, Rati.
The Atharva Veda regards Kamadeva as the wielder of the creative power of the universe, also descri ...
or Cupid, with which the latter wounds the hearts of lovers. The imagery is all the more appropriate as the blossoms are compared to a net of kimsuka flowers (किंशुकजाले). In a completely leafless tree, the blossoms look like a net.
The following stanza is translated here by Barbara Stoller Miller, for kimsuka blossoms, she uses the common name "flame tree petals":
:मृगमदसौरभरभसवशंवदनवदलमालतमाले।
:युवजनहृदयविदारणमनसिजनखरुचिकिंशुकजाले॥
:Tamala tree's fresh leaves absorb strong scent of deer musk.
:Flame tree petals, shining nails of love, tear at young hearts.
::''
Gita Govinda
The ''Gita Govinda'' ( sa, गीत गोविन्दम्; ) is a work composed by the 12th-century Hindu poet, Jayadeva. It describes the relationship between Krishna, Radha and ''gopis'' (female cow herders) of Vrindavan.
The ''Gita ...
of
Jayadeva
Jayadeva (; born ), also spelt Jaideva, was a Sanskrit poet during the 12th century. He is most known for his epic poem '' Gita Govinda'' which concentrates on Krishna's love with the '' gopi'', Radha, in a rite of spring. This poem, which pres ...
, Love Song of the Dark Lord, Motilal Banarsidass''
Gallery
Butea monosperma plant. Yavatmal, Maharashtra..JPG,
Sacred Tree.jpg,
Butea monosperma- flower and buds 11.JPG,
Butea monosperma (Dhak) fruits at Canopy W2 IMG 7498.jpg,
Butea monosperma young leaves W IMG 7645.jpg,
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q942203
Phaseoleae
Plants described in 1894
Trees of the Indian subcontinent
Trees of Indo-China
Trees of Java
Trees of Peninsular Malaysia
Trees of Nepal
Symbols of Jharkhand