Description

Habit : A thorny deciduoustree, with grayish - white or grayish - brown, smoothbark. Stem : Woody, erect, cylindrical and branched. Leaves : Exstipulate, petiolate, compound, trifoliate, leaflets ovate - elliptic or elliptic - lanceolate, glabrous. Inflorescence : Axillary panicles. Flowers : Bracteate, complete, actinomorphic, hypogynous, pentamerous, Flowers greenish or creamy white. Calyx 5, gamosepalous. Corolla 5, polypetalous, imbricate. Androecium with many stamens, polyandrous, dithecous, introrse. Gynoecium pentacarpellary, syncarpous, superior, multilocular, axile placentation. Fruits : Berries 6 - 10 cm across, globose or sub-globose, with rough rind; rind greenish-white, on ripening yellow. Seeds : obliquely lenticular or oblong, wrinkled, pale - brown, glabrous. Flowering and Fruiting time : January - May, February - July. Significance : The bark of the tree yields a yellow dye, which was used for dyeing wool and linen. The tree provides good timber and the wood is used in furniture, buildings, agricultural implements, turnery, bobbins etc. It is also very good timber for flooring and paneling. The bark is used as an antiseptic. The roots are used as astringent in dysentery. The tree has a religious significance in Hindu marriage rituals. It is excellent for bobbins and suitable for battery separators.

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