Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.
| Kannada Name : | Seeme hunase |
| Common Name : | Madras Thorn |
| Family Name : | Fabaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Pithecellobium dulce |
| Species Type : | Exotic |
| Phenology : | Evergreen |
| Conservation Status : | Not known |
| Flowering Period : | December - February |
| Fruiting Period : | February - March |
| Origin : | Mexico |
Uses
The leaves can be used as a plaster to allay pain even from venereal sores, and can relieve convulsions. A paste made from the leaves is applied externally to treat muscular swellings caused by some inflammations. The bark of the root is a good remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. The fruit pulp is taken orally to stop blood flow in case of haemoptysis. The seed juice is inhaled into the nostrils against chest congestion and pulverised seeds are ingested for internal ulcers.
Description
Evergreen trees, 10‐15 m tall. Branches often pendulous; branchlets armed with spinescent stipules. Leaves pinnate, alternate, pinnae 1 pair; glands at junction of pinnae and leaflets; leaflets sessile, 1 pair per pinna, elliptic or obovate-elliptic, glabrous, base slightly oblique, apex obtuse or emarginate, margin entire. Inflorescence pedunculate heads, aggregated in terminal panicles. Flower bisexual, greenish-white. Fruit a pod, green or reddish-brown, curved into a circle, with white to pink pulpy aril. Seeds dark brown, shiny, 5-9, ovoid-ellipsoid, hard, with pleurogram.
