Kanchanar Tree Medicinal Benefits
Botanical Name- Bauhinia variegate
Common Name- Kachnar
Family- Leguminosae (Shimbi kul)
Habit- A moderate sized deciduous tree.
Properties:
Property—Dryness, Lightness
Taste—Astringent
Potency—Cooling
Metabolic Property—Pungent
Specific Property
- Gandamalanasak
- Constipating
- Depurative
- Anthelmintic
- Vulnerary
Parts used—Bark, Flower
Description—Kanchanar or Purple orchid tree is closely related to peacock flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) and to the tree many consider the world’s most beautiful, the royal poinciana (Delonix regia)-and it shows! Purple orchid tree (usually just called orchid tree) is staggeringly beautiful when in bloom-and it blooms for several months! Orchid tree grows 20-40 ft (6-12 m) tall and 10-20 ft (3-6 m) wide with a spreading crown of briefly deciduous leaves which are 4-6 in (10-15 cm) across and rounded with lobed ends and heart shaped bases. The leaves are shaped a little like a cow’s hoof. Some cultivars have leaves with white variegations. The flowers are reminiscent of showy orchids, with five irregular, usually slightly overlapping petals in shades of magenta, lavender or purplish blue. The flowers often make their first appearance in late winter while the tree is bare of leaves. The blooming period then lasts until early summer. The flowers are 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) across and carried in clusters at the branch tips. A member of the bean family, orchid tree produces flattened brown woody legumes (pods) up to 12 in (30.5 cm) long. The cultivar Vandida’ (white orchid tree) has snow white flowers with greenish veins.
Orchid tree is used as a street tree, shade tree, specimen or focal tree in tropical and subtropical landscapes. It bears beautiful fragrant flowers abundantly in late winter and early spring and intermittently through summer. Orchid trees have brittle branches that can break in strong winds and they can be messy, dropping hundreds of dried pods in autumn. The hybrid, Hong Kong orchid tree doesn’t produce pods because it is sterile.
Dosage— Powder of bark -3-6 gms.
Decoction -40-80 ml.
Expressed juice of flower -10-20 ml.
Uses-
- In Gandamala (Scrofula)—Used the decoction of Kanchanar bark added with Sunthi powder de stroys gandamala.
- In Gandamala as well as Galaganda (Goitre)—decoction of Kanchanarand Triphla added with Pippali powder is beneficial.
- In Pox—Decoction of Kanchanarbark added with Swarnamaksika Bhasma destroys pox.
- In Hemorrhagic disorders—The powder of Kanchanar flower should be used with honey.
- Kanchanar flower is used with sugar as a laxative.
- In Hemorrhoids—Powder of Kanchanar root is effective if given with buttermilk.
- Decoction of Kanchanarbark is useful in leprosy, skin diseases, diarrhea, and boil.
