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Species
Adenanthera pavonina L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Distribution: It is distributed mainly in India, South-east China and Malaysia to the Moluccas, cultivated in Karachi.
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Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200011864 |
Perennial, Trees, Woody throughout, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Leaves compound, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals united, valvate, Petals white, Petals ochroleucous, cream colored, Imperfect flowers present, dioecious or polygamodioecious, Stamens 9-10, Stamens completely free, separate, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit strongly curved, falcate, bent, or lunate, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Valves twisting or coiling after dehiscence, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds red, or scarlet and black.
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Rights holder/Author | Compiled from several sources by Dr. David Bogler, Missouri Botanical Garden in collaboration with the USDA NRCS NPDC |
Source | http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ADPA |
A large deciduous tree, bark pale pinkish grey. Leaves bipinnate, up to 24 cm long, rachis c. 10-40 cm long, petiole c. 5-10 cm long, pinnae opposite, 2-6 pairs, c. 7-12 cm long, leaflets 7-15 pairs, sessile, alternate, obovate, l.5-4.0 cm long, 5-25 mm broad, margins slightly curved backwards, base unequal. Inflore¬scence axillary and terminal raceme, c. 7.5-15 cm long. Flower pedicellate, pedicel 3.5-4.0 cm long. Calyx 5, gamosepalous, 5 toothed, c. 1 mm long. Corolla pale yellow, c. 2.5-3 mm long, petals united at the base. Stamens 10, free, hardly exserted, anthers with a gland at the tip. Fruit a pod, curved, becomes coiled after dehiscence, 10-22.5 cm long, c.7-10 mm broad. Seeds many, bright red in colour, like beads, c. 7-8 mm wide.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200011864 |
Fl. Per. March-May.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200011864 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 5
Specimens with Barcodes: 17
Species With Barcodes: 1
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
Reasons: Native of Asia. Planted and naturalized in tropical regions including West Indies. Grown in southern Florida and California. Culitvated in South America from Venezuela to Brazil but very rare in Central America. Naturalized in the coastal and moist limestone regions of Puerto Rico.
Adenanthera pavonina is a perennial and non-climbing species of leguminous tree. Its uses include food and drink, traditional medicine, and timber.[2]
Contents
§Common names and synonyms[edit]
Adenanthera pavonina is commonly called Red Lucky Seed.[citation needed] Other common names for the tree include Acacia Coral, Arbre À Église, Bead Tree, Circassian Seed, Corail Végétale, Coral Wood, Coralitos, Curly Bean, Deleite, Delicia, Dilmawi, Graine-réglisse, Jumbi-Bead, L'Église, Peronías, Peonía, Peonía Extranjera, Red Bead Tree, Red Sandalwood, Red Sandalwood Tree, and Réglisse.[2] Barbados pride, Peacock flower fence, Sandalwood tree, Saga, and Manchadi are additional common names. Synonyms for the tree include Adenanthera gersenii Scheff., Adenanthera polita Miq., and Corallaria parvifolia Rumph.[3] In Kerala where Adenanthera pavonina trees are abundant, the seeds are called Manjadi (മഞ്ചാടി).[citation needed]
§Distribution[edit]
The tree is common within the tropics of the old world. It has also been introduced in the following countries of the Americas: Brazil, especially in Caatinga vegetation; Costa Rica, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Tobago, Venezuela, and the United States, especially in southern Florida.
§Uses[edit]
This tree is useful for nitrogen fixation, and it is often cultivated for forage, as an ornamental garden plant or urban tree, and as a medicinal plant. For example, the young leaves can be cooked and eaten. The raw seeds are toxic, but may be eaten when cooked.
Adenanthera pavonina seeds have long been a symbol of love in China, and its name in Chinese is xiang si dou (Chinese: 相思豆), or "mutual love bean". The beauty of the seeds has led to them being used as beads for jewellery. Renowned botanist Edred Corner states that in India, the seeds have been used as units of weight for fine measures, of gold for instance, throughout recorded history because the seeds are known to be almost identical weights to each other. [4] Indeed, the Malay name for the tree, saga, has been traced to the Arabic for 'goldsmith'. The small, yellowish flower grows in dense drooping rat-tail flower heads, almost like catkins. The curved hanging pods, with a bulge opposite each seed, split open into two twisted halves to reveal the hard, scarlet seeds. This tree is used for making soap,[5] and a red dye can be obtained from the wood. The wood, which is extremely hard, is also used in boat-building, making furniture and for firewood.
The tree is fast-growing, with an attractive, spreading canopy that makes it suitable as a shade tree, and for ornamental purposes in large gardens or parks. However, it is also known for producing lots of litter in the form of leaves, twigs and especially seed pods which crack open while still on the branch, so releasing their seeds, before themselves falling to the ground.
In traditional medicine, a decoction of the young leaves and bark of Adenanthera pavonina is used to treat diarrhoea.[6] Also, the ground seeds are used to treat inflammation.[7] Preliminary scientific studies appear to support these traditional uses. In vitro studies show that Adenanthera pavonina leaf extract has antibacterial activity against the intestinal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni.[8] Also, high doses of seed extract have an anti-inflammatory effect in studies in rats and mice.[9]
§Chemical constituents[edit]
Adenanthera pavonina is a source of aliphatic natural products (O-acetylethanolamine and 1-octacosanol), carbohydrate (galactitol), simple aromatic natural products (2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid), flavonoids (ampelopsin, butein, dihydrorobinetin, and robinetin), terpenoids (echinocystic acid and oleanolic acid), steroids (daucosterol, β-sitosterol, and stigmasterol), amino acids and peptides (2-amino-4-ethylidenepentanedioic acid and γ-methyleneglutamine), and alkaloids (O-acetylethanolamine and 1H-imidazole).[2]
§References[edit]
- ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Bisby F (1994). Phytochemical Dictionary of the Leguminosae, Volume 1. Chapman and Hall/CRC. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-41-239770-6.
- ^ "Adenanthera pavonina". International Legume Database & Information Service. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ Corner EJH (1988). Wayside Trees of Malaya, Volume 1. Malaysian Nature Society. ISBN 9-67-999060-5.
- ^ "Species used for Soap". The Green Farmacy Garden. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Adenanthera pavonina". International Center for Research in Agroforestry. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ Smith AC (1985). Flora Vitiensis Nova: A New Flora of Fiji, Volume 5. National Tropical Botanical Garden. pp. 56–57.
- ^ Dholvitayakhun A et al (2012). "Antibacterial activity of three medicinal Thai plants against Campylobacter jejuni and other foodborne pathogens". Natural Product Research 26 (4): 356–363. doi:10.1080/14786419.2010.545777. PMID 21878033.
- ^ Olajide OA et al (2004). "Anti-inflammatory studies on Adenanthera pavonina seed extract". Inflammopharmacology 12 (2): 196–202. doi:10.1163/1568560041352310. PMID 15265320.
§External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adenanthera pavonina. |
- Adenanthera pavonina
- USDA Plants Profile: Adenanthera pavonina
- Adenanthera pavonina L. Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) (traditional Chinese) (English)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adenanthera_pavonina&oldid=651158198 |
The timber is used as a substitute for red sandalwood and the bright red polished seeds are used as weights and for making beads.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200011864 |