Description

Khejri Tree also known as ‘Ghaf, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native to arid portions of Western Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, India, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Its leaves are shattered and stripy along its branch. It can survive extreme drought. It is an established introduced species in parts of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.

Characteristcis:

Khejri Tree is a small moderate sized evergreen thorny tree, with slender branches armed with conical thorns and with light bluish-green foliage. Leaves are double compound. The leaflets are dark green, and have a tiny point. The tree is evergreen or nearly so. It produces new flush leaves before summer. The flowers are small in size and yellow or creamy white in colour, appear from March to May after the new flush of leaves. The pods are formed soon thereafter and grow rapidly in size attaining full size in about two months time. Historically Khejri Tree has played a significant role in the rural economy in the northwest arid region of Indian sub-continent. This tree is a legume and it improves soil fertility. It is an important constituent of the vegetation system. It is well adapted to the arid conditions and stands well to the adverse vagaries of climate and browsing by animals. Camels and goats readily browse it. In areas open to goat browsing, the young plants assume cauliflower shaped bushy appearance.

Medicinal Uses:

Extract from unripe fruit pods of the plant was shown to ameliorate artificially-induced damage to testes in an animal model. stem bark is useful in the treatment of Rheumatism, Cough, Common cold, Anthelmintic disorder ,dysentery, Bronchitis, Asthma, Leucoderma, piles and Tremors of the muscles. The Prosopis cineraria plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the farmers.