Description

Indian Bael Tree is a fruit-bearing tree which is cultivated throughout India, as well as in Sri Lanka, northern Malaya, Java and in the Philippines. The tree, which is the only species in the genus Aegle, grows up to 15 meters tall and bears thorns and fragrant flowers. Leaves are alternate, pale green, trifoliate; terminal leaflet, 5.7 cm long, 2.8 cm broad, having a long petiole; the two lateral leaflets, almost sessile, 4.1 cm long, 2.2 cm wide, ovate to lanceolate having reticulate pinnate venation; petiole, 3.2 cm long. Flowers, greenish white, sweetly scented, bisexual, stalked; stalk, 8 mm long; diameter of a fully open flower is 3 cm; flowers, borne in lateral panicles of about 10 flowers, arising from the leaf axils. It has a woody-skinned, smooth fruit 5-15 cm in diameter. The skin of some forms of the fruit is so hard it must be cracked open with a hammer. It has numerous seeds, which are densely covered with fibrous hairs and are embedded in a thick, gluey, aromatic pulp. The fruit is eaten fresh or dried. The juice is strained and sweetened to make a drink similar to lemonade, and is also used in making Sharbat. is a sacred tree, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The offering of bael leaves is a compulsory ritual of the worship of Lord Shiva in the hills. This importance seems largely due to its medicinal properties. All parts of this tree, viz., root, leaf, trunk, fruit and seed, are used for curing one human ailment or another.

Characteristics:

Tree to 12 m tall, deciduous; branchlets cylindric, sometimes slightly angled, glabrous; spines axillary, solitary or paired, straight, stout and sharp. Leaves alternate-3-foliolate, sometimes 5-foliolate, dimorphic; petioles terete to 6 cm long, glabrous or puberulous when young; leaflets subsessile, ovate-elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, oblique at base, shallowly crenate-serrate at margin, tapering at apex, membranous, pellucid-punctate, pale green. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, racemose or corymbose, few-flowered, 4-5 cm long; peduncles densely puberulent; pedicels 2-4 mm long. Flowers bisexual, greenish white or yellow, fragrant. Calyx cupular, finely puberulent, caducous; lobes 4 or 5, 3-angled. Petals 5, ovate-oblong, subequal, ca 12 x 6 mm, spreading, glabrous, fleshy and white. Stamens numerous in 2 or 3 series, free or basally subconnate, unequal; filaments subulate, ca 7 mm long, glandular; anthers linear-oblong, ca 8 mm long. Disc glabrous, greenish. Ovary ovoid, 4-5 mm long, faintly ridged, 10-loculed; ovules many, 2-seriate; style short; stigma oblong, longitudinally grooved. Berries ovoid, 6-10 cm across, woody, yellowish, many seeded; seeds oblong and flat.

Medicinal Uses:

Bael or Bilva holds much significance in Ayurveda due to its wide range of benefits. Ancient Ayurvedic scriptures also mention Bael as one of the “Dashamoolas” i.e. roots having anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties. Each and every part of the tree has a therapeutic benefit. The fruit when taken unripe is very effective in improving digestion and preventing constipation. The ripe fruit has Madhura ras (sweet taste) but aggravates all three doshas. However, it plays a key role in treating and curing diarrhea and cholera. The roots of the plant prevent vomiting and nausea.