Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.

Family: Mimosaceae

Synonym: Mimosa dulcis Roxb.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Khoibabla, Dakhinibabul, Dharsundar(Bengali); Khoi (Satkhira); Jilapi hol (Noakhali).

Tribal name: Aoway-de-sthei (Rakhaing), Quamochil (Tripura).

English name: Madras-thorn, Manila tamarind, Deccany babool, Madras thorne.

Description of the plant: A small to medium-sized evergreen tree, armed with straight stipular thorns. Leaves bipinnate, each pinna with a pair of leaflets; leaflets oblique, obovate-oblong, obtuse, 2.5-5 cm long, subsessile. Flowers small, whitish, in small globular heads, 1 cm diam., solitary or fascicled in axils of bracts.Pods turgid, twisted, and spiral, 10-15 cm long, 1 cm wide, and dehiscent along the lower suture.Seeds 6-8, with an edible, whitish, pulpy aril. The arillus is sweet when the fruit is ripe.

Plant parts used: Leaf, bark, seed.

Herbal uses:Decoction prepared from bark of the plant is taken for the treatment of diarrhoea anddysentery.

Decoction of leaves is used as remedy for indigestion, earache, leprosy, toothache.

A paste made with the bark of the plant is applied to the infected skin for the treatment of skin disease.

Decoction prepared from the barks of the plant is used as remedy for dermatitis and eye inflammation.

A paste made from the leaves is applied externally to treat muscular swellings caused by some inflammations.

The leaves can be used as a plaster to allay pain even from venereal sores, and can relieve convulsions.

The seed juice is inhaled into the nostrils against chest congestion and pulverised seeds are ingested for internal ulcers.

The fruit pulp is taken orally to stop blood flow in case of haemoptysis.

Decoction of bark is given for the treatment of enema and fever.

Distribution: It is found in Khulna, Satkhira, and planted elsewhere in the country.

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