''Butea'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s belonging to the pea family,

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It includes five species native to the Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Tibet, and southern China. It is sometimes considered to have only two

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, '' B. monosperma'' and '' B. superba'',Gwilym Lewis, Brian Schrire, Barbara MacKinder, and Mike Lock. 2005. ''Legumes of the World''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Richmond, England. or is expanded to include four or five. ''

Butea monosperma ''Butea monosperma'' is a species of '' Butea'' native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also known as flame of the forest, Bengal kino, dhak, palash, and bastard teak. Revered as sacred by Hindus, it is ...

'' is used for timber, resin, fodder, herbal medicine, and dyeing. ''Butea'' is also a host to the lac insect, which produces natural

lacquer Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity. Asian lacquerware, which may be c ...

.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.

Taxonomy

''Butea'' is named after

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He became the ...

(1713-1792), member of parliament, prime minister for one year, and a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume I. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC; USA. London, UK.

William Roxburgh William Roxburgh FRSE FRCPE Linnean Society of London, FLS (3/29 June 1751 – 18 February 1815) was a Scottish people, Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked extensively in India, describing species and working on economic botany. He is known ...

erected the genus ''Butea'' in 1795, but it became a nomen invalidum. Carl Willdenow validated the

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

''Butea'' in 1802.

Uses

''Butea monosperma'', called kiṃśukha in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, is used in

Ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

medicine to treat various symptoms.

Species

Forty-two names have been published in ''Butea'',''Butea''
At
IPNI
/ref> but forty of these are either

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

of species that have been transferred to other genera. Five species are currently accepted. * '' Butea buteiformis'' (syn. ''Megalotropis buteiformis'', ''Meizotropis buteiformis'') – Himalayas, India, Myanmar, and northern Thailand * ''

'' (syn. ''Butea frondosa'', ''Erythrina monosperma'') – flame-of-the-forest, bastard teak, pâlāsh – Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and southern China *''

Butea pellita ''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. It is sometimes considered to have only two species, '' B. monosp ...

'' – west-central and central Himalayas * '' Butea superba'' (syn. ''Plaso superba'', ''Rudolphia superba'') – India, Bangladesh, and Indochina *'' Butea xizangensis'' – Tibet

References

External links

* *
''Erythrina monosperma''
In
Encyclopédie Méthodique. Botanique
Phaseoleae Fabaceae genera Flora of the Indomalayan realm Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Willdenow John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute {{Phaseoleae-stub