Butea

Butea
Butea monosperma flowers in India
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Phaseoleae
Genus: Butea
Roxb. ex Willd. (1802), nom. cons.
Type species
Butea monosperma
Species[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Megalotropis Griff. (1854)
  • Meizotropis Voigt (1845)
  • Plaso Adans. (1763)
Butea monosperma seed pods

Butea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the pea family, Fabaceae. It includes five species native to the Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Tibet, and southern China.[1] It is sometimes considered to have only two species, B. monosperma and B. superba,[2] or is expanded to include four or five.[3]

Butea monosperma is used for timber, resin, fodder, herbal medicine, and dyeing.

Butea[clarification needed] is also a host to the lac insect, which produces natural lacquer.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Butea Roxb. ex Willd. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  2. ^ Gwilym Lewis, Brian Schrire, Barbara MacKinder, and Mike Lock. 2005. Legumes of the World. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Richmond, England.
  3. ^ Dezhao Chen; Dianxiang Zhang & Mats Thulin. "Butea". Flora of China Online. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  4. ^ Munivenkatappa Sanjappa. 1987. "Revision of the genera Butea Roxb. ex Willd. and Meizotropis Voigt (Fabaceae)". Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 29:199-225.