Fagus speciesDescription: Beech trees are large (9 to 24 meters), symmetrical forest trees that have smooth, light-gray bark and dark green foliage. The character of its bark, plus its clusters of prickly seedpods, clearly distinguish the beech tree in the field.Habitat and Distribution: This tree is found in the Temperate Zone. It grows wild in the eastern United States, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It is found in moist areas, mainly in the forests. This tree is common throughout southeastern Europe and across temperate Asia. Beech relatives are also found in Chile, New Guinea, and New Zealand.Edible Parts: The mature beechnuts readily fall out of the husklike seedpods. You can eat these dark brown triangular nuts by breaking the thin shell with your fingernail and removing the white, sweet kernel inside. Beechnuts are one of the most delicious of all wild nuts. They are a most useful survival food because of the kernel’s high oil content. You can also use the beechnuts as a coffee substitute. Roast them so that the kernel becomes golden brown and quite hard. Then pulverize the kernel and, after boiling or steeping in hot water, you have a passable coffee substitute.
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Pongamia pinnataPapilionaceaeSan: Karanj;Hin: Karanja, Dittouri;Ben: Dehar karanja;Mal: Ungu, Pongu; Guj, Mar, Pun: Karanj;Kan: Hongae;Tel: Kangu;Tam: Puggam; Ass: Karchaw; Ori: KoranjoImportance: Indian beech, Pongam oil tree or Hongay oil tree is a handsome flowering tree with drooping branches, having shining green leaves laden with lilac or pinkish white flowers. The whole plant and the seed oil are used in ayurvedic formulations as effective remedy for all skin diseases like scabies, eczema, leprosy and ulcers. The roots are good for cleaning teeth, strengthening gums and in gonorrhoea and scrofulous enlargement. The bark is useful in haemorhoids, beriberi, ophthalmopathy and vaginopathy. Leaves are good for flatulence, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, leprosy, gonorrhoea, cough, rheumatalgia, piles and oedema. Flowers are given in diabetes. Fruits overcomes urinary disease and piles. The seeds are used in inflammations, otalgia, lumbago, pectoral diseases, chronic fevers, hydrocele, haemorrhoids and anaemia. The seed oil is recommended for ophthalmia, haemorrhoids, herpes and lumbagoThe seed oil is also valued for its industrial uses. The seed cake is suggested as a cheap cattle feed. The plant enters into the composition of ayurvedic preparations like nagaradi tailam, varanadi kasayam, varanadi ghrtam and karanjadi churna.It is a host plant for the lac insect. It is grown as a shade tree. The wood is moderately hard and used as fuel and also for making agricultural implements and cart- wheels.Distribution: The plant is distributed throughout India from the central or eastern Himalaya to Kanyakumari, especially along the banks of streams and rivers or beach forests and is often grown as an avenue tree. It is distributed in Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaya, Australia and Polynesia.Botany: Pongamia pinnata (Linn.) Pierre syn. P. glabra Vent., Derris indica (Lam.) Bennet, Cystisus pinnatus Lam. comes under family Papilionaceae. P. pinnata is a moderate sized, semi -evergreen tree growing upto 18m or more high, with a short bole, spreading crown and greyish green or brown bark. Leaves imparipinnate, alternate, leaflets 5-7, ovate and opposite. Flowers lilac or pinkish white and fragrant in axillary recemes. Calyx cup-shaped, shortly 4-5 toothed, corolla papilionaceous. Stamens 10 and monadelphous, ovary subsessile, 2-ovuled with incurved, glabrous style ending in a capitate stigma. Pod compressed, woody, indehiscent, yellowish grey when ripe varying in size and shape, elliptic to obliquely oblong, 4.0-7.5cm long and 1.7-3.2cm broad with a short curved beak. Seeds usually 1, elliptic or reniform, wrinkled with reddish brown, leathery testa.Agrotechnology: The plant comes up well in tropical areas with warm humid climate and well distributed rainfall. Though it grows in almost all types of soils, silty soils on river banks are most ideal. It is tolerant to drought and salinity. The tree is used for afforestation, especially in watersheds in the drier parts of the country. It is propagated by seeds and vegetatively by rootsuckers. Seed setting is usually in November. Seeds are soaked in water for few hours before sowing. Raised seed beds of convenient size are prepared, well rotten cattle manure is applied at 1kg/m2 and seeds are uniformly broadcasted. The seeds are covered with a thin layer of sand and irrigated. One month old seedlings can be transplanted into polybags, which after one month can be planted in the field. Pits of size 50cm cube are dug at a spacing of 4-5m, filled with top soil and manure and planted. Organic manure are applied annually. Regular weeding and irrigation are required for initial establishment. The trees flower and set fruits in 5 years. The harvest season extends from November- June. Pods are collected and seeds are removed by hand. Seed, leaves, bark and root are used for medicinal purposes. Bark can be collected after 10 years. No serious pests and diseases are reported in this crop.Properties and activity: The plant is rich in flavonoids and related compounds. Seeds and seed oil, flowers and stem bark yield karanjin, pongapin, pongaglabrone, kanugin, desmethoxykanugin and pinnatin. Seed and its oil also contain kanjone, isolonchocarpin, karanjachromene, isopongachromene, glabrin, glabrachalcone, glabrachromene, isopongaflavone, pongol, 2’- methoxy-furano 2”,3”:7,8 -flavone and phospholipids. Stem-bark gives pongachromene, pongaflavone, tetra-O-methylfisetin, glabra I and II, lanceolatin B, gamatin, 5-methoxy- furano 2”,3”:7,8 -flavone, 5-methoxy-3’,4’-methelenedioxyfurano 2”,3”:7,8 -flavone and - sitosterol. Heartwood yields chromenochalcones and flavones. Flowers are reported to contain kanjone, gamatin, glabra saponin, kaempferol, -sitosterol, quercetin glycocides, pongaglabol, isopongaglabol, 6-methoxy isopongaglabol, lanceolatin B, 5-methoxy-3’,4’- methelenedioxyfurano 8,7:4”,5” -flavone, fisetin tetramethyl ether, isolonchocarpin, ovalichromene B, pongamol, ovalitenon, two triterpenes- cycloart-23-ene,3 ,25 diol and friedelin and a dipeptide aurantinamide acetate.Roots and leaves give kanugin, desmethoxykanugin and pinnatin. Roots also yield a flavonol methyl ether-tetra-O-methyl fisetin. The leaves contain triterpenoids, glabrachromenes I and II, 3’-methoxypongapin and 4’-methoxyfurano 2”,3”:7,8 -flavone also. The gum reported to yield polysaccharides (Thakur et al, 1989; Husain et al, 1992).Seeds, seed oil and leaves are carminative, antiseptic, anthelmintic and antirheumatic. Leaves are digestive, laxative, antidiarrhoeal, bechic, antigonorrheic and antileprotic. Seeds are haematinic, bitter and acrid. Seed oil is styptic and depurative. Karanjin is the principle responsible for the curative properties of the oil. Bark is sweet, anthelmintic and elexteric.... indian beech
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