| Binomial |
Millettia pinnata (L.) Pierre |
| Family |
Fabaceae |
| Tamil name |
புங்கை (Pungai) |
| Habit |
Moderate sized evergreen tree with dense canopy |
| Bark |
Straight or crooked trunk, greyish brown in colour, smooth and vertically fissured |
| Flowers |
Stalked, fragrant, pinkish white and occurring in pairs along the stalks of flower clusters |
| Fruits |
Pale brown pod, flat, thick, oblong with a beak at its end |
| Flowering period |
April to June |
| Pollinators |
Bees and Insects |
| Native to Indian Subcontinent |
Leaves are used to make the roof of festival pandhals. The juice of the leaves, shoots and bark is used as traditional medicine as it has anti-inflammatory properties. The seeds and roots are used as fish poison. The bark is used to wash idols. The bark is fibrous and can be used to make strings and ropes. Oil from seeds used in the past for lighting lamps, currently in demand as a biofuel. The oil extracted is used to power water pumps and generate
electricity in rural areas. Leaves make excellent compost. |
| Location on campus: |
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