Millettia pinnata (L.) Pierre.
| Kannada Name : | Honge |
| Common Name : | Pongamia |
| Family Name : | Fabaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Millettia pinnata |
| Species Type : | Indigenous |
| Phenology : | Evergreen |
| Conservation Status : | Least concern |
| Flowering Period : | April - June |
| Fruiting Period : | February - May |
| Origin : | Tropical Asia, Australia, Pacific Island |
Uses
The seed oil has been found to be useful in diesel generators, and along with Jatropha and castor, it is being explored in hundreds of projects throughout India and the third world as feedstock for biodiesel. pinnata as a biofuel is commercially valuable to the rural populations of places such as India and Bangladesh, where the plant grows abundantly, because it can support the socioeconomic development of these areas.
Description
A medium sized, evergreen tree, up to 18 m tall. Bark grey, smooth, speckled with brown; blaze-yellow; branchlets lenticellate. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate; leaflets 5-7, oppoiste, elliptic-acuminate, elliptic-lanceolate, ovate or ovate-oblong, glabrous, chartaceous, base cuneate, apex acuminate, margin entire. Inflorescence an axillary raceme or panicle. Flowers bisexual, pinkish-white or purplish-white. Fruit a pod, 4-5 cm long, obliquely oblong, flat, thick, pointed at both ends, indehiscent, slightly falcate; seed one, reniform.
