Medicinal plant details
Bombax ceibaL.
(Salmali)
| Common name | Salmali |
| Habit | Tree |
| Habitat | Dry as well as moist deciduous forests, and near rivers |
| Parts used | Stem bark |
Synonyms
| Sr. No. | Synonyms |
|---|---|
| 1 | Melaleuca grandiflora Blanco |
| 2 | Pochota quinata (Jacq.) W.D.Stevens |
| 3 | Pachira quinata W.S.Alverson |
| 4 | Bombacopsis quinata (Jacq.) Dugand |
| 5 | Bombax aculeatum L. |
| 6 | Bombax ceiba Burm.f. |
| 7 | Bombax ceiba var. leiocarpum Robyns |
| 8 | Bombax fendleri (Seem.) Benth. ex B.D.Jacks. |
| 9 | Bombax heptaphyllum Cav. |
| 10 | Bombax malabaricum DC. |
| 11 | Bombax quinatum Jacq. |
| 12 | Bombax thorelii Gagnep. |
| 13 | Bombax tussacii Urb. |
| 14 | Gossampinus malabarica (DC.) Merr. |
| 15 | Gossampinus rubra Buch.-Ham. |
| 16 | Gossampinus thorelii (Gagnep.) Bakh. |
| 17 | Salmalia malabarica (DC.) Schott & Endl. |
Taxonomical information
| Kingdom | Viridiplantae |
| Phylum | Streptophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Malvales |
| Family | Malvaceae |
| Genus | Bombax |
| Species | Bombax ceiba L. |
Vernacular names
| Sanskrit | Moca, Picchila, Raktapuspa, Kantakadhya, Tulini |
| English | Silk-Cotton tree |
| Hindi | Semal, Semar |
| Kannada | Kempuburunga |
| Marathi | Sanvar, Katesavar |
| Malayalam | Mullilavu |
| Bengali | Shimul, Simul |
| Tamil | Elavam |
| Telugu | Buruga |
| Urdu | Sembhal |
Morphology
A lofty deciduous tree grows up to 40 m tall, bole straight, buttress 1-2 m high, young stem covered with stout, hard prickles. Bark is 20-30 mm thick, pale ash-silver grey in colour. Leaves are palmate in appearance. Leaves are digitate, large, spreading, glabrous, and size of leaf is 15-30 cm long. Leaflet size varies from 10 cm to 20 cm. Flowers are red, large 10-15 cm across and numerous with copious nectar. Fruits are capsule upto 15 mm long and green in colour. Seeds are irregular obovoid in shape, black in colour, smooth and oily with dense silky hair
Distribution
It is found in temperate Asia, Africa, and Australia. In India, it is found at altitutdes upto 1500 m. Except Jammu and Kashmir, it is found in all states of India
Medicinal uses
Bleeding disorder, Ulcer, Burning sensation, acne vulgaris
References
| 1 | Chaudhary, P. H., and Khadabadi, S. S. (2012). Bombax ceiba Linn.: pharmacognosy, ethnobotany and phyto-pharmacology. Pharmacognosy Communications, 2, 2-9. |