PRGC(A) DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY: The Pipal Tree

Botanical Name : Ficus religiosa L.Synonyms : Urostigma religiosum L.
Family : Moraceae

Local Name : Odia : Pipal, Aswatta,Jori,Osta, Hindi : Pipal, English: Peepal,
Telugu : Ravi,,Ashvathamu,Bodhi,Pippali, Tamil : Asogam , Kannada : Pipar
Bengali : Asvatha, Ashathwa

Habitat : Common, wild or cultivated, often epiphytic on trees and dilapidated walls.

Distribution: India; Sub-Himalayan forest, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cochinchina, Yunnan (China), N.Thailand

Flowering & Fruiting time : June-October

Conservation Status : Not yet evaluated

Habit : Large Tree up to 30 metres, epiphytic when young.

Leaf : Leaves more or less pendulous, broadly ovate, margin often repand, very long caudate, coriaceous, dark green and shining above, base coardate or truncate with 3 strong principal nerves and 2-4 weaker ones, looped within the margin, acumen many nerved; petiole

slender; stipules linear subulate.Figs : Figs axillary, geminate, sessile, depressed-globose,

smooth, glabrous, dark purple when ripe.

Uses :

Ficus religiosa has been traditionally used in Indian system medicine for treatment of asthma, diabetes, diarrhea, epilepsy, gastric problems, inflammatory disorders etc.All parts of the tree used in medicine.

Leaf : Its leaves serve as a wonderful laxative as well as tonic for the body. It is specially useful for patients suffering from jaundice and heart disorders. It helps to control the palpitation of heart and there by combat the cardiac weakness.

Bark: The bark is astringent, sweet, cooling and aphrodisiac. It is used in the treatment of gonorrhoea, diarrhoea, dysentery, haemorrhoids and gastric ulcer. The paste of powdered bark is good absorbent for inflammatory swelling and useful in burns.

Figs : Figs are laxative and digestive. The dried fruits are pulverised and administrated with water to cure asthma.

Mythological importance :

The Peepal ( Ficus religiosa ) plant has the great importance in India especially among the Budhhist. Lord Goutama Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating underneath a Peepal tree. The site is at present Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India. A branch of this tree was rooted in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka in 288 BC and is known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, it is the oldest living human planted flowering plant in the world with a definitive planted date.

Hindus in India spiritually regarded Peepal tree as the holy tree and the people use its leaves for the religious purposes. It is widely planted in temple premises. Women worship this tree as a symbol of

fertility.

Source

 Saxsena, H.O. & Brahmam, M. (1994). The Flora of Orissa, Vol. III, pp:1719 - 1720.

 Sharma P.C.; Yelne M.B.; Dennis T.J. (2005 ). Database on Medicinal Plants Used in Ayurveda,

Vol.3, pp: 130-139.

 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ficus_religiosa