Butea | |
---|---|
Butea monosperma flowers in India | |
Scientific 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] | |
| |
Synonyms [1] | |
|
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]
Butea monosperma is used for timber, resin, fodder, herbal medicine, and dyeing.
Butea[ clarification needed] is also a host to the lac insect, which produces natural lacquer. [4]
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.
Butea monosperma, called kiṃśukha in Sanskrit, is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat various symptoms. [6]
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]