Pterocarpus santalinus L.f.

Family: Fabaceae

Synonym: Lingoum santalinum (L.f.) Kuntze                    

Bengali/Vernacular name: Lal chandan.

English name: Red sandalwood, Red sanders.

Description of the Plant: A small tree, up to 10 m tall, with extremely hard, dark purple heart wood. Leaflets 3-5, broadly-elliptic, obtuse, slightly emarginated, clothed with obscure adpressed grey hairs beneath. Raceme short and copious, pedicels shorter. Flowers few.  Fruit a pod, oblique, silky, narrowed into a short stalk.

Plant parts Used: Bark, heart wood, fruit.

Traditional Uses: The plant is used to treat eye disorders, sexual disorder, nasal bleeding, and menorrhagia etc. 
Decoction of fruits is used to check dermatological conditions including psoriasis.
Wood and bark brew taken orally relieves worms, blood vomiting, weak vision, and hallucination.
Wood paste is applied to skin eruptions, and infections.
Tea prepared from the heart wood and bark of the plant is taken to treat chronic dysentery.
Wood powder is used to control hemorrhage, bleeding piles and inflammation.
The wood paste is applied externally as a cooling application to boils, inflammatory diseases of the skin, swollen limbs, ophthalmia, sore eyes, and headache.

Distribution: This species is found in Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….