 |
| From-pixabay |
Kingdom-Plantae
Division -Tracheophyta
Class-Magnoliopsida
Order-Gentianales
Family- Rubiaceae
Genus- Neolamarckia
Species- N. cadamba
Neolamarckia cadamba, also known locally as kadam or cadamba and having common names in English such as burflower tree, laran, and Leichhardt pine, is an evergreen tropical tree that is indigenous to South and Southeast Asia. The French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is honoured with the genus name. It produces dense clusters of fragrant orange blooms that resemble globes. Perfumes contain the flowers. The tree is grown for decorative purposes, as well as for lumber and paper production. Kadam appears in Indian mythology and religions.
Description
A fully grown tree can grow as tall as 45 metres (148 feet). A broad crown and a straight, cylindrical bole may be seen on this enormous tree. It expands quickly in the first 6 to 8 years and has broad, spreading branches. The diameter of the trunk is normally between 100 and 160 cm. 13–32 cm (5.1–12.6 in) is the length of a leaf. Around the age of 4-5, the tree normally starts to flower.It produces thick, globular heads of flowers that are crimson to orange in colour, highly scented, and about 5.5 cm (2.2 in) in diameter. The fleshy, tiny capsules of N. cadamba's fruit are tightly packed together to form a fleshy, yellow-orange infructescence that contains about 8000 seeds. The fruit splits apart as it ripens, releasing the seeds, which are subsequently carried away by the wind or the rain.Five stamens, with short filaments and basifixed anthers, are attached on the corolla tube. Ovary inferior with a spindle-shaped stigma, bi-locular ovaries that are occasionally 4-locular in the upper section.
Numerous fruitlets with four hollow or solid structures in their upper portions. Trigonal or atypically formed seeds.
The sapwood is not easily distinguished from the heartwood; it is white with a faint hint of yellow that turns creamy yellow when exposed.
Ecology
India's subcontinent in southern China also includes Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia.
At Toro Negro State Forest in Puerto Rico, it is an alien species.
This species is eaten by the larvae of the moth Arthroschista hilaralis and the brush-footed butterfly Moduza procris. Pollinators are drawn to the blossoms.
Taxonomy
Since the 1930s, there has been taxonomic controversy around the species' botanical name. Scientific names are dependent on type specimens, which created an issue. Cephalanthus chinensis was the name given to a specimen in 1785 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who claimed it was from Madagascar. The name Anthocephalus indicus was coined by Achille Richard in 1830. He claimed that the species originated in Asia and that his description was based on the same specimen as Lamarck's Cephalanthus chinensis. [8] (According to the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants, Richard should not have modified the specific epithet and should have used the name A. chinensis instead of A. indicus.)The question is whether Richard actually used the same specimen as Lamarck; the geographical origin is alleged to be different, and the descriptions do not match; for instance, the inflorescences in Lamarck's Cephalanthus chinensis are axillary whereas they are terminal in Richard's Anthocephalus. If specimens were identical, Anthocephalus would be a synonym for Madagascan Cephalanthus and could not be used to refer to the Asian kadam tree in general. Even though Richard insisted they were the same, if they were distinct, Anthocephalus might be a general term for the kadam tree. Based on the latter theory, the kadam tree has been given the common name Anthocephalus chinensis.The majority of taxonomic sources currently hold the position that Cephalanthus chinensis, also known as Breonia chinensis (Lam.) Capuron, is a synonym of Richard's Anthocephalus indicus or Anthocephalus chinensis and that it is incorrectly used frequently for the kadam tree. (Writing A. chinensis auct., where "auct." is an abbreviation of the Latin for "of authors," rather than of the correct authority, illustrates the incorrect sense of the scientific name.)The first name for the kadam tree is William Roxburgh's Nauclea cadamba from 1824 as Richard's designation for it is inaccurate. In 1984, Jean Marie Bosser changed Nauclea cadamba to Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser in order to honour Lamarck and the Asian genus that matched Richard's description of his Anthocephalus. This taxonomic study has not, however, been recognised by all botanical sources, and the term Anthocephalus is still used to refer to the Asian genus.
Culture significance
Symbolism
During the British Raj, the kadamba flower served as the symbol of Athmallik State, one of India's princely states.According to a Talagunda inscription from around 450 CE, the Kadamba gave their name to the Kadamba Dynasty, which ruled from Banavasi in what is now the state of Karnataka from 345 to 525 CE. The Kadamba dynasty revered the kadamba tree as a holy tree.
Hindu mythology holds that the 27 nakshatras, which are made up of 12 Houses (Rasis) and nine planets, are perfectly represented by 27 trees, one for each star. According to legend, the kadamba tree symbolises Shatabhisha, who roughly corresponds to Aquarii.
Regions significant
A reference to Kadamba appears in the Bhagavata Purana. It is known as "Parvati's tree" in the south and "Krishna's tree" in the north of India. According to legend, Radha and Krishna performed their love play under the friendly and fragrant kadamba tree. Murugan of Tirupparankundram Hill in Madurai was referred to as a centre of nature worship during the Sangam period of Tamil Nadu. Under a kadamba tree, he appeared as a spear.
Suddenly their attention was drawn to the nearby kadamba tree by the stirring of its branches. When they looked up, they saw Krishna hiding there and their garments scattered all over the branches of the tree. Krishna insisted that they come out naked to receive their garments. This episode is portrayed in song, story, painting and artifacts, in the backdrop of the kadamba tree.A story about Krishna describes a time when he took the gopis' clothing when they were taking a bath in a pond close to Vrindavan. The sea god Varuna had forbade naked bathing in ponds, rivers, and other public areas, but gopis frequently engaged in it. One day, as he approached the pond's edge where they were bathing, Krishna took their clothing and stretched it out on the branches of a neighbouring kadamba tree as a lesson for them. He went up the tree by himself and hid under a branch. The gopis searched for their clothes after taking a bath, but they weren't there.On the eleventh lunar day of the month of Bhadra, people celebrate the well-known harvest festival known as Karam-Kadamba. In the house's courtyard, a tree twig is brought and worshipped. Young grain ears are presented to friends and family later in the day. The Tulu people have embraced this joyous tradition. There are regional variations of this event called Onam in Kerala and Huttari in Kodagu. The government of Karnataka also celebrates Kadambotsava ("The festival of Kadamba") each year in honour of the Banavasi-based Kadamba kingdom, which was the earliest sovereign state in Karnataka and where the Kadamba monarchs held their annual spring festival.Another tree god known as Kadambariyamman is connected to the kadamba tree. The Kadamba, also known as Kadambavanam (kadamba forest), is a tree that grows in the Meenakshi Amman Temple and is regarded as the "tree of the place" of the city. There is also a kadamba artefact that has faded maintained.
Sumedha Buddha attained enlightenment under the kadamba tree in the Theravada school of Buddhism.
Uses
According to reports, humans can eat the fruit and inflorescences. Cattle are given the fresh leaves to eat. The ornamental N. lamarckia plant is also grown for its inferior paper and wood products. The wood is used to make plywood, lightweight structures, pulp and paper, boxes and crates, dugout canoes, and furniture parts. Kadamba produces pulp that performs admirably as a hand sheet and has an acceptable brightness. To boost the wood's density and compressive strength, synthetic resins can be simply infused into it. The wood is fine to medium in texture, straight in grain, low lustre, and has no distinctive odour or taste. It has a density of 290-560 kg/cu m at 15% moisture content.It is simple to work with, both manually and mechanically, cuts cleanly, provides an excellent surface, and is simple to nail. The air quickly dries the lumber with minimal to no degradation. It is fairly simple to preserve kadamba wood utilising open tank or pressure-vacuum systems.
One of the tropical regions' most widely planted trees is the kadamba. For shade, the tree is grown along streets, byways, and in towns. Programs for reforestation can use kadamba. It loses a lot of leaf and non-leaf litter, and as it decomposes, some of the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil beneath its canopy are improved. This is due to an increase in the amount of exchangeable bases, accessible plant nutrients, and cation-exchange capacity of the soil.The bark of the root is used to make a yellow dye. An essential ingredient in the creation of "attar," an Indian perfume made with a foundation of sandalwood (Santalum spp.), is kadamba flowers, one of the essences of which is extracted using hydro-distillation. As a mouth rinse, a leaf extract is used. The edible, raw bulbous fruit is eaten in Northern India and bears flowers. It is often used as relish and has a flavour that is aromatic, sweet, and somewhat acidic.Recently, silver nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy were made using the leaf extract.
0 Comments