Millingtonia hortensis

Millingtonia hortensis

Millingtonia hortensis, the tree jasmine or Indian cork tree, is the sole species in the genus Millingtonia, is a tree native to South Asia & South East Asia. In the name Millingtonia hortensis, Millingtonia is named for Sir Thomas Millington who was an inspiration to Carl Linnaeus the Younger who first described the genus. The specific epithet 'hortensia' derives from 'hortensis' and 'hortus' which in Latin is related to garden. In its synonym, Bignonia suberosa, 'suberosa' derives from 'suberos' which means 'corky' in Latin.

Uses

antipyretic, sinusitis, cholagogue, tonic in folklore, treatment of asthma, carminative.

Parts Used

Leaves, Flowers.

Chemical Composition

hortensis flower is shown in Fig. 1. The most abundant compounds found were solanesol (25.72%), trans-farnesol (19.71%), nerolidol (8.54%), palmetic acid (6.77%), vanillin (6.20%), oleic acid (4.54%), linoleic acid (3.87%), L-linalool (3.37%), 1-octen-3-ol (1.67%), α-farnesene (1.22%), and methyl salicylate (1.03%).

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada	Beratu, ಬಿರಾತೆ ಮರಾ Birate mara
Hindi	नीम चमेली Neem Chameli
Malayalam	കടെസമ് Katesam
Tamil	கட் மல்லீ Kat-malli
Telugu	కవుకీ Kavuki
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit
English	Indian Cork Tree, Tree Jasmine

Properties

Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.

Habit

Tree

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	slightly round-toothed	Each is from 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long. Sometimes the lower pinnae, are again divided and bear one pair of three leaved pinnae, one or two pairs of leaflets and one leaflet at the end.

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Unisexual	tiny bell-shaped calyx, a long slender tube of palest green dividing into four waxy	silver white in colour		Many flowers are delicately tinted with rose. As the flowers are short-lived, the flower sprays mostly consist largely of long whitish buds

Mode of Propagation

Seeds.

How to plant/cultivate

Millingtonia hortensis Linn. is cultivated in most parts of India, both in gardens and avenues. Tall and straight, with comparatively few branches, its popularity lies in its ornamental value. It is a fine tree, fast growing, but with brittle wood, liable to be damaged by storms.

Commonly seen growing in areas

Garden area.

Photo Gallery

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External Links

• Millingtonia hortensis