Saraca indica

Saraca indica is an evergreen flowering tree which grows to about in height, though some sources describe it as growing to . The trunk can reach up to in diameter. The bark is dark brown to almost black in color and has a warty and uneven surface caused by lenticels. Fractures in the bark expose thin whitish layers. The leaves are compound and paripinnate, each leaf has 2–4, sometimes 1–7, pairs of leaflets along a , sometimes up to , rachis. The leaflets are typically long by wide, sometimes long by wide. Leaflets may be elliptic to lanceolate in shape; their bases may be obtuse, rounded, cordate or cuneate; tips may be obtuse or acute, sometimes acuminate. The leaflet pairs closest to the leaf stalk are usually smaller than the rest. They have a glabrous surface; young leaves flush white, pink, or purple and hang pendulously, turning green as they mature and are brownish when dry. Inflorescence is a diameter corymb with slender branches, with apetalous, bisexual flowers with yellowish orange sepals. Bracts are by in size, ovate to oval shaped, and fugacious. Bracteoles are long by , ovate to oval-oblong shaped, upright and spreading, may be persistent or fugacious when they fall off during maturity, and are orange-colored. The pedicel is long, long including the part above the bracteoles, and bibracteolate at the juncture with a long and narrow hypanthium. The receptacle is long. The 4 petaloid sepals are by in size, obtuse or rounded at the tip and spreading, and orange-reddish in color. The stamens, 6–8 in total, sometimes 5–10, are exserted and conspicuous. The ovary is pubescent along the margins, with 6–8 ovules. S. indica has 6–8 ovules whereas S. asoca has 8–10 and up to 12. Both pods are oblong, but S. indica pods may be narrowly oblong-lanceolate while S. asoca pods may be elongate-oblong or scimitar-shaped; both species' pods can grow up to a similar size but S. indica have smaller lower size range of , where S. asoca pods have a size range starting at , being generally longer than S. indica. The species also differ in native distribution: S. indica, despite its name, is native to most of Mainland Southeast Asia and Western Indonesia while S. asoca is native to the Indian Subcontinent and Myanmar west of the Irrawaddy River. For its part, Saraca asoca is also often misidentified as S. indica, and in India as of 2014, pharmacological researchers, ayurvedic physicians, herbal industries, and several publications continued to erroneously refer to S. asoca as S. indica. Saraca is sometimes confused with the false ashoka, Monoon longifolium, which is a lofty evergreen tree native to India. It exhibits symmetrical pyramidal growth with willowy weeping pendulous branches and long narrow lanceolate leaves with undulate margins. The false ashoka tree is known to grow over 30 ft in height. Species of Saraca are sometimes confused with the false ashoka, Monoon longifolium, which is a lofty evergreen tree native to India. It exhibits symmetrical pyramidal growth with willowy weeping pendulous branches and long narrow lanceolate leaves with undulate margins. The false ashoka tree is known to grow over 30 ft in height. == Taxonomy ==

Saraca indica was formally described by botanist Carl Linnaeus in Mantissa Plantarum I in 1767; the type specimen was collected by Christiaan Kleynhoff from Java. Saraca arborescens was identified by Nicolaas Laurens Burman and his description was published in Flora Indica in 1768. It was later determined that S. arborescens is a synonym of S. indica and that its type species was "certainly a duplicate of Linnaeus'" type for S. indica.John Gilbert Baker described it in The Flora of British India, published in 1879. Sijfert Hendrik Koorders and Theodoric Valenton published a description in 1895. S. indica was described by George King in Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula, published in the 1897 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The Journal also included a description by David Prain of S. bijuga, which was later reclassified as a variety of S. indica, and his identifications of S. kunstleri and S. minor var. bijuga were reclassified as a synonym of S. indica. Of S. indica, Prain wrote that after studying the material in the Calcutta Herbarium, he could find no evidence that it extended as a wild species east of the Irrawaddy. He found no specimens there from the Malay Peninsula and determined that those seen by J. G. Baker must have been from planted trees. François Gagnepain's description of S. indica was published in 1913, and he classified S. zollingeriana and S. bijuga as varieties of S. indica. == Ecology ==

The tree is evergreen and may flower multiple times a year but is said to flower in February and fruit in May. It is biotically pollinated and attracts bees. S. indica grows best along streams in forests; it prefers full sun, moderate water and fertile, loamy, well-drained soils. The seeds are eaten by monkeys and squirrels. == Uses ==

S. indica is cultivated as an ornamental tree for its fragrant and showy flowers. The flowers are said to taste sourish. File:25 Gal - Saraca Indica - Ashoka.jpg|In a wholesale plant nursery. File:Saraca Indica, fleurs Laos.jpg|Flowers for use in cooking sold in a market in Laos. ==References==