Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub., H. G. A. Engler and K. A. E. Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3(3): 366 (1894).
The flowers of bastard teak, palas, or dhak, 2-3 cm long, are sold in the potpourri trade as “kesui flowers” or “keysu flowers.” The native color is yellow and brown.
Butea monosperma is native to the Indian Subcontinent, Indo-China, and Malesia but widely cultivated in the tropics for fiber, paper pulp, yellow or orange-red dye from the flowers, “muduga oil” from the fruit, Bengal kino gum from the bark, and as a source of food for lac insects.
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae), also placed in Papilionaceae
Authors: A.O. Tucker, A.J. Redford, J.L. Scher, M.D. Trice
Last updated: January 2020
idtools.org
