Description

Indian kino tree also known as Malabar kino, or vijayasar, is a medium to large, deciduous tree that can grow up to 30 m (98 ft) tall. It is native to India (where it occurs in parts of the Western Ghats in the Karnataka-Kerala region and in the forests of Central India), Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The tree also has a wide range of other uses - it is commonly harvested for medicinal purposes as well as providing food and a range of commodities. It is grown as a shade tree in coffee plantations and is often cultivated as a multipurpose tree in home gardens and as component of agroforestry systems in India and Sri Lanka.

Characteristics:

Indian Kino Tree is a deciduous tree, up to 30 m tall, bark 10-15 mm, surface grey or greyish-black, rough, deeply vertically cracked, exfoliations small, irregular, fibrous; blaze pink; exudation blood-red. Leaves are compound, alternate; stipules small, lateral, falling off; axis 6.5-11.1 cm long, slender, hairless. Leaflets are 5-7, alternate, estipulate; leaflet-stalk 6-10 mm, slender, hairless; blade 3.5-12.5 x 2-7 cm, elliptic-oblong, oblong-ovate or oblong, base blunt or pointed, tip blunt and notched, margin entire, hairless, leathery; lateral nerves 9-20 pairs, parallel, prominent. Flowers are bisexual, yellow, at branch-ends and in leaf-axils, borne in panicles; 1.0-1.2 cm long; bracts small, dioecious; bracteoles 2, falling off; sepal tube bell-shaped, sepals short, the upper 2 often fused; flowers are protruding; petals 5, all long-clawed, crisped along the margins; standard round, wings oblique, obovate, eard; keel petals oblique, small, slightly fused; stamens 10. Fruit is a pod, 2.5-5 cm across, round-kidney-shaped, broadly winged; seed one, somewhat kidney-shaped. Indian Kino Tree is found in Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Flowering: September-October.

 

Medicinal Uses:

Parts of the Indian Kino Tree (heart wood, leaves and flowers) have long been used for their medicinal properties in Ayurveda. The heart wood is used as an astringent and in the treatment of inflammation. The wood and bark of the tree are known for their anti-diabetic activity. Indian kino is often used in herbal medicine in India, the leaves, bark and most commonly the resin being used. A strongly astringent herb, it is also alterative. In addition, various trials have shown a hypoglycaemic effect from an aqueous extract of the heartwood. The bark is used, either as a powder or in decoction, in the treatment of diarrhoea. The bruised leaves are used as a poultice on boils, sores and skin diseases.