Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Indian Beech (करंज)

Millettia pinnata

Description:

A legume tree that grows to about 15–25 meters (15–80 ft) in height with a large canopy which spreads equally wide. It may be deciduous for short periods. The leaves are a soft, shiny burgundy in early summer and mature to a glossy, deep green as the season progresses. Flowering starts in general after 3–4 years. Cropping of pods and single almond sized seeds can occur by 4–6 years. Small clusters of white, purple, and pink flowers blossom on their branches throughout the year, maturing into brown seed pods.

Notes:

Although all parts of the plant are toxic and will induce nausea and vomiting if eaten, the fruits and sprouts, along with the seeds, are used in many traditional remedies. Juices from the plant, as well as the oil, are antiseptic and resistant to pests.In addition M. pinnata has the rare property of producing seeds of 25–40% lipid content of which nearly half is oleic acid. Oil made from the seeds, known as honge oil, is an important asset of this tree and has been used as lamp oil, in soap making, and as a lubricant for thousands of years.

2 Species ID Suggestions

Ashish
Ashish 12 years ago
Pongam Tree, Indian Beech Tree, Pongame Oil Tree, करंज
Millettia pinnata Millettia pinnata
KishorePawar
KishorePawar 12 years ago
gliricidia sepium


Sign in to suggest organism ID

13 Comments

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 12 years ago

nice to see them,

Ashish Nimkar
Ashish Nimkar 12 years ago

Yesterday morning I have spotted a Warbler on that tree.. I will post it later... :)

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 12 years ago

Ashish it is nice to have this lovely tree just in-front of your sight,

Ashish Nimkar
Ashish Nimkar 12 years ago

This tree is host of many small birds here... :)
So I love it very much.

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 12 years ago

Agree MaryEvans2

MaryEvans2
MaryEvans2 12 years ago

Beautiful!

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 12 years ago

edited,

Ashish Nimkar
Ashish Nimkar 12 years ago

This is deciduous tree plant... two just in front of my gallery... They have new leafs recently... as winter is at its season's end here.

Ashish Nimkar
Ashish Nimkar 12 years ago

Flowers are at end of branches here... In Gliricidia sepium plant flowers had separate branches.

Ashish Nimkar
Ashish Nimkar 12 years ago

I think Its करंज

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 12 years ago

Thanks Kishore Pawar and Ashish for ID help, , ,

Ashish Nimkar
Ashish Nimkar 12 years ago

Fabaceae family shrub.... Its at peak of flowering across Western ghats here....

Sachin Zaveri
Spotted by
Sachin Zaveri

Ahmedabad, Gujarāt, India

Spotted on Feb 24, 2012
Submitted on Feb 27, 2012

Related Spottings

Pogam Tree Moulmein Rosewood Evergreen Wisteria Evergreen Wisteria, Leatherleaf Millettia, 老荊藤

Nearby Spottings

Jungle Crow जरुल  Pride of India Mango tree Spotting

Reference

Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team