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GREEN NOTES
Tree from heaven
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Parijata or Coral Jasmine blooms profusely at night
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Garden bloom Parijatha
Former Chief Secretary and a great plant lover V. Krishnamoorthy remembers: “During my childhood, we children used to collect the tender, fresh, soft and fragrant flowers of ‘Parijatha’ that were strewn all over the ground in the early morning hours.”
Today Parijatha trees also find a place in his home garden along with the Simsapa and other sacred trees.
According to the Mahabharatha, Lord Krishna brought the Parijata from heaven to pacify his wife Sathyabhama. Parijata or Coral Jasmine (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis), belonging to the family Oleaceae, is native to West Bengal, where it is known as ‘Shephali.’
Official flower
The flower is the official flower of West Bengal as well as the Kanchanaburi Province in Thailand. The tree is sometimes called the Tree of Sorrow because the flowers fall during the day.
The taxonomic name Arbor-tristis also means ‘sad tree’ and Nyctanthes means ‘Night flowering.’
It grows as a large shrub or a small tree about five to eight metres in height. Parijata is found in the homesteads and gardens all over India as well as in deciduous forests. It can easily be grown from seedlings. Large cement pots can also be used for growing this tree. It will start to flower two years after planting.
The large leaves are opposite, ovate, rough and hairy. The scented flowers, born in terminal pyramidal bunches, are very small and attractive with white corollas and an orange-red tube in the centre.
They bloom profusely opening at night and fall during the day, thus making a carpet of flowers below the tree.
Uses
The leaves are anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and it is used as a cure for bilious fever, lumbago, skin diseases and rheumatism.
The juice of the leaf is a safe purgative for children. The juice is given with honey and salt. Carpenters once used its dried leaves as a scrubber.
The flowers are used for worship. A dye extracted from the corolla tube was used to lend colour to Tussar Silk. Flowers are bitter astringent, ophthalmic, stomachic and carminative.
G.S.UNNIKRISHNAN
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