159
Stereospermum chelonoides (L.f.)
DC.
Synonym : Stereospermum
suaveolens (G. Don) DC
Family
: Bignoniaceae
Local Names
: Kalagari, Padal, Paroli,
Padiri, Poopatiri
Flowering
and fruiting period:
January – August
Distribution: India and Sri Lanka
Habitat: Moist forests
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: Yes
Uses: Tender young fruit -
cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Flowers - cooked and used as a vegetable. An
infusion of the pleasant tasting root, as well as the fragrant flowers, is used
as a cooling drink in the treatment of fevers. The juice of the bark is used to
treat indigestion. The grey wood is hard, elastic, moderately durable, easy to
work. It is used for making furniture, construction, tea boxes, canoes etc. An
excellent fuel, the wood also makes a good charcoal.
Key
Characters:
Deciduous trees, to 25 m high; bark grey,
exfoliating in flat scales. Leaves compound, imparipinnate, opposite; leaflets 5-11,
opposite; lamina elliptic or ovate; margin entire
