Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Mesua ferrea L. - Ironwood or Nageswar

Botanical Name : Mesua ferrea L. Synonyms : Mesua ferrea subsp. Thwaitesii, Mesua thwaitesii Plank &Triana, Mesua coromandelina Wight, Mesua pedunculata Wight ,Mesua speciosa Chois
Mesua nagassarium (N.L.Burman) Kostermans.Calophyllum nagassarium N.L.Burman

Family : Clusiaceae
Local Name Odia : Nageswar Hindi : Nagakesara, Nagapushpa,Keshara, Nagkesar, Nagesar
English: Iron wood treeTelugu : Kesaramu,Bengali : Nageswar,Tamil : Nagappu Kannada : Nagakesari

Habitat: Occasional in evergreen forests near streams and rivers.

Distribution: India, Eastern Himalaya, Eastern &Western Peninsula, Malaysia, Myanmar,Sri Lanka. Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia,Bangladesh, China.Tropical Asia

Flowering time: March - July Fruiting time: October—November
Conservation Status: Endangered

Description
Habit : Trees evergreen up to 30 m tall.Trunk upright, buttressed at base, crown conic.
Leaf : Leaves always pendulous; leaf bladereddish yellow when young, becoming dark green and somewhat lucid, lanceolate or narrowly ovate-lanceolate, learthery.
Flower: - Flowers bisexual, solitary, axillary; very variable in size, 1.8-7.5 cm across, fragrant. Sepals orbicular, convex. Petals white obovatecuneate;Stamens with filaments filliform; anthers golden yellow.
Fruit: - Fruit broadlyovoid or laterally depressed globose usually dehiscent by 2 valves.

Uses
The whole plant parts are both economically and medicinally important.
Wood : Wood is very heavy, hard and strong. It is widely used for heavy construction (Bridges, beam poles etc.) and heavy-duty flooring and furniture (railways sleeper, boat building etc.).Bark : It is used as astringent & sudorific Leaves: Leaf having antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.Flower : The flowers are useful in conditions like asthma, leprosy, cough, fever, vomiting, impotency. Dried flowers are used for bleeding hermorrhoids and dysentery with nausea. Its flower and leaves are used as an antidote to snakebite, and a powder of the flower with butter and sugar is used in bleeding piles and burning of the feet. Fresh flowers are useful in itching, nausea, piles, excessive thirst and sweating. Fruit : Pericarp of the fruit is astringent and stomachic. Seed : The Seed oil is considered for healing purpose as in sores, wounds and rheumatism. Root : It is aromatic and demulcent.

Some facts : Mesua ferrea (Nageswar) is the state flower of Tripura State and also the national tree of S r i L a n k a . In India, it is considered as sacred. It is widely cultivated in Asia as an ornamental due to its graceful shape and fragrant flower. This plant acts as sink for dust pollution.

Source
 Saxsena, H.O. & Brahmam, M.(1994). The Flora of Orissa, Vol. I, pp: 273-274
 Sharma P.C.; Yelne M.B.; DennisT.J. (2005 ). Database on Medicinal Plants Used in Ayurveda,  
     Vol.1,pp: 280-288.
 Sharma R. (2003). Medicinal plantsof India-An encyclopedia, pp 158.
 Swain B.K & Das S.K. (2007).Visual guide to wild medicinal plants of orissa, pp 263.
 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mesua ferrea
 www.envis.frlht.org