Butea

Butea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the pea family, Fabaceae. It includes five species native to the Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Tibet, and southern China.[1] It is sometimes considered to have only two species, B. monosperma and B. superba,[2] or is expanded to include four or five.[3]

This article is about the genus of flowering plants. For the commune in Romania, see Butea, Iaşi.
Not to be confused with Butia.

Butea
Butea monosperma flowers in India
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Phaseoleae
Genus: Butea
Roxb. ex Willd. (1802), nom. cons.
Type species
Butea monosperma
Species[1]
  • Butea buteiformis (Voigt) Grierson
  • Butea monosperma (Lam.) Kuntze
  • Butea pellita Hook.f. ex Prain
  • Butea superba Roxb. ex Willd.
  • Butea xizangensis X.Y.Zhu & Y.F.Du
Synonyms[1]
  • Megalotropis Griff. (1854)
  • Meizotropis Voigt (1845)
  • Plaso Adans. (1763)
Butea monosperma seed pods

Butea monosperma is used for timber, resin, fodder, herbal medicine, and dyeing.

Butea is also a host to the lac insect, which produces natural lacquer.[4]

Taxonomy

Butea is named after John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792), member of parliament, prime minister for one year, and a patron of botany.[5] William Roxburgh erected the genus Butea in 1795, but it became a nomen invalidum. Carl Willdenow validated the name Butea in 1802.

Uses

Butea monosperma, called kiṃśukha in Sanskrit, is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat various symptoms.[6]

Species

Forty-two names have been published in Butea,[7] but forty of these are either synonyms or names of species that have been transferred to other genera.[4] Five species are currently accepted.[1]

  • Butea buteiformis (Voigt) Grierson (syn. Megalotropis buteiformis, Meizotropis buteiformis) – Himalayas, India, Myanmar, and northern Thailand
  • Butea monosperma (Lam.) Kuntze (syn. Butea frondosa, Erythrina monosperma) – flame-of-the-forest, bastard teak, pâlāsh – Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and southern China
  • Butea pellita Hook.f. ex Prain – west-central and central Himalayas
  • Butea superba Roxb. ex Willd. (syn. Plaso superba, Rudolphia superba) – India, Bangladesh, and Indochina
  • Butea xizangensis X.Y.Zhu & Y.F.Du – Tibet

References
  1. Butea Roxb. ex Willd. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  2. Gwilym Lewis, Brian Schrire, Barbara MacKinder, and Mike Lock. 2005. Legumes of the World. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Richmond, England.
  3. Dezhao Chen; Dianxiang Zhang & Mats Thulin. "Butea". Flora of China Online. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  4. Munivenkatappa Sanjappa. 1987. "Revision of the genera Butea Roxb. ex Willd. and Meizotropis Voigt (Fabaceae)". Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 29:199-225.
  5. Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume I. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC; USA. London, UK. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2
  6. Soman, I.; Mengi, S. A.; Kasture, S. B. (September 2004). "Effect of leaves of Butea frondosa on stress, anxiety, and cognition in rats". Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 79 (1): 11–16. doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2004.05.022. ISSN 0091-3057. PMID 15388278.
  7. Butea At: IPNI
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