Palas
Palas is a deciduous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae and its scientific name is Butia monosperma. A tree famous for its showy flowers. It is native to South Asia and is found in the tropical regions of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is found in deciduous forests in Maharashtra.
Tree:
The girth of the trunk of the palasa is approx. 1·5–1·8 m. The bark is scaly, bluish, gray or pale brown and thready and peels off in small flakes. The red sap oozes from the notches and cracks on the bark and when dried it forms a special gum, called ‘Butia Gum’ or ‘Bengal Keeno’ in English. Young parts are tender. The leaves are jointed, side by side, sub-foliaceous, large, trifoliate [hence the Sanskrit name ‘Tripatrak’ and the Marathi saying ‘Palsala pane tin’, actually scientifically it is three leaflets (tridli)] and long-stemmed and the leaflets are large, tough. , hard, somewhat glabrous above and whitish soft beneath Lateral lobes obliquely ovate, very short-stalked and terminal lobes long-stalked, globose and rounded or oblong at apex. The leaves fall off in winter and the new leaf comes in April or end of April. The flowers of Palasa are large, orange-red and odorless and are borne at the ends of the branches or in the axils of the leaves. 15 cm. They arrive in February-March on a long flight. The English name ‘Flame of the Forest’ given above, meaning ‘forest fire or forest flame’, is justified by the numerous flamboyant flowers on the leafless branches. Attracted by this flamboyant color, many birds flock to the tree to rob the flower of honey, thereby helping ð pollination (carrying pollen to another flower). Buds are crescent shaped. The flower structure is moth-like [moth-like ⟶ Agusta gokarna-2 leguminogi] Pods 9+1 pods pendulous, 6–8X3–5 cm. The seed is single, oblong, flattened (2·5 X 1·9 cm), brown and at the lower end of the peduncle. Other general physical characters are as given in ⇨ Leguminoe family (subfamily Papilionatie).
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palas (flower)
Palas is a medium sized tree. 15 m. grows tall. Trunk girth 1.5–1.8 m. is The bark is grey, bluish or pale brown and peels off in small scales. The red juice seeps through the notches and cracks on the peel. When this juice dries, it becomes a specific gum. It is called Butia Gum or Bengal Kino in English. The leaves are compound, alternate and lanceolate, large and trilobed. This tree produces orange-red flowers in the months of January to March. The flowers are large, bisexual and sessile and borne on long panicles at the tips of the branches or axils of the leaves. She is many and beautiful. 2.5 cm. are long. Therefore, the area where there are palsa trees seems to be on fire from a distance due to these brightly colored flowers. Hence it is called ‘Flame of the Forest’ in English. Dense fruits 15–20 cm. Long and beautiful. 4.5 cm. are wide. It has only one seed.
The wood of Palasa is dark white. It is not affected by water, so it is used for mottes and for construction on the edges of wells. The leaves are gray and hard. They make letters out of them. Orange color is obtained from the flowers. It is used for Holi color and dyeing clothes. Mosquitoes are attracted to the color of the flower and lay their eggs in its nectar. But these eggs do not hatch. This reduces the generation of mosquitoes. The gum obtained from the trunk is used in medicine. Its tannins are used to make leather.
Common Uses:
Threads are extracted from the inner part of the bark of the palm tree and used by the wild tribes for rope, paper-making and for filling the cracks of the galbats. A yellow dye is obtained from dried flowers, the color can be extracted by boiling or soaking the flowers in cold water. It is used to dye sarees. Alum, lime or salt (alkali) is added to make it orange. It is useful in making gulal and abeer. The above-mentioned gum (Bengal kino) is used for tanning and dyeing skins, it is deep red and becomes brittle and opaque when cleaned. It contains a lot of tannins and mucilage. By dry distillation (evaporation followed by cooling) it yields ‘pyrocatechin’. It is an old method of using palsa leaves as patravali and drona for food. Pala feeds cattle and elephants. In Bengal, palsa leaves are used to tie bidis. The wood of palasa is gray or coarse, soft and light, durable in water but not very durable on land, but is used for boxes, toys, planks, gun charcoal, etc. Its wings are not long. Because the trunk of the tree belongs to the madman. These trees are planted in the garden for decoration. It is important in terms of forest conservation (land reclamation). Phalaenopsis thrives in saline and undrained soils where many other trees will not grow. Brihat Samhita says that where Bor and Palas grow together, water will be found in the soil.
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Specific Uses and Cultivation:
They also plant trees as the palsa tree is good for breeding lac worms. Palasa crops can be grown in dry (ruksha) areas as well as in waterlogged areas. 3–3·5 m in the soil by collecting shimba before rain. Sow at a distance. Fresh seeds from leguminous plants take root immediately. 6 m. Planted at a distance. Vegetative production (adherence) occurs due to shoots from the roots. In India, palsa is ranked second only to koshimba among the lac worm feeding plants, the lac produced by the lac worm growing on palsa is less, but the lac content is higher. For this purpose, the trees are pruned above the stump in May and then the new fleshy shoots (shoots) are allowed to appear and all the new shoots can be cut off immediately after the worms have fed on them. Larvae (larvae) are usually released on the tree in October-November. Two-thirds of the shoots in April-May are naturally pollinated in July, followed by complete new growth in the following October-November. The larvae of Palasavar worms can be released on the bag but not on the koshimba .
Source – Marathi vishwakosh
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