MPdb: Melghat Plant Data Bank
MT102 : Adansonia digitata L. |
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| Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : |
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| Plant Location in Melghat : | ||||||||||||||
| Plant Category : | Tree | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Current Status : | ||||||||||||||
| Plant Family : | MALVACEAE | |||||||||||||
| Plant Common Name : | Baobab • Hindi: Gorakh imli • Marathi: Gorakh chinch • Gujarati: Bukha • Telugu: Brahmaaamlika • Bengali: Gadhagachh • Tamil: Papparappuli • Sanskrit: Sarpadandi | |||||||||||||
| Synonym : | Adansonia bahobab L. Adansonia baobab Gaert. Adansonia digitata var. congolensis A. Chev. Adansonia somalensis Chiov. Adansonia sphaerocarpa A. Chevall. Adansonia sulcata A. Chevalier Baobabus digitata (L.) Kuntze |
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| Description : | The tree is not very tall, growing up to 70 ft, but the trunk is massive, as much as 35 ft in diameter and shaped like a bottle. The trunk is in fact used to store water during dry periods. There are cases of people using the hollow trunks of living trees as houses. The palmately compound leaves are clustered at the ends of short, stocky branches. Baobab is a deciduous tree, losing its leaves in the dry season. The Arabian legend of the baobab is that "the devil plucked up the baobab, thrust its branches into the earth and left its roots in the air". This aptly describes the shape of a leafless baobab. At the end of the dry season, the baobab blooms with large white flowers that hang down on long stalks. The flowers are 4-5 in across and have waxy crinkled petals about 4 in long that surround dense clusters of purplish stamens that look like powder puffs. The flowers open only at night and are pollinated by bats feeding on the nectar. The pendant fruits are velvet covered, gray and gourdlike, about a foot long, and apparently look like dead rats hanging from the tree by their tails. | |||||||||||||
| Curated Medicinal Use / Activity : | The leaves are hyposensitive and antihistamine. They are used to treat kidney and bladder diseases, asthma, general fatigue, Diarrhea, insect bites, and guinea worm. Leaf and flower infusions are valued for respiratory problems, digestive disorders and eye inflammation. Seeds are used to cure gastric, kidney and joint diseases. They are roasted then ground and the powder smeared on the affected part or drunk in water. The seed paste is used for curing tooth and gum diseases. The pulp is widely used in Africa as a diaphoretic to combat fevers, and to treat dysentery. The bark is used in steam baths for calming shivering and high fever. The bark is boiled and taken as a cure for body pains. This infusion is also used to treat colds, fever and influenza. A decoction of the roots is taken as a remedy for lassitude, impotence and kwashiorkor. | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Phytochemicals : | Betulic acid FURFURAL ascorbic acid palmitic acid (–)-epicatechin campesterol cholesterol isofucosterol Beta-sitosterol stigmasterol Alpha-tocopherol Beta-tocopherol Gamma-tocopherol Delta-tocopherol |
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| Reference : | ~ Prabha Y. Bhogaonkar and Pankaj A. Dhole; "Checklist of Flora of Melghat"; Chief Conservator of Forest & Field Director, Melghat Tiger Project, Camp, Amravati
(2018 - 2019); Book PMID : |
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