A morning walk along the local Jungle, make me fall in awe with the beautiful flower of Palash

Also known as Bueta Monosperma or Bastard Teak these are speciality of eastern India and Western Bengal.

The tree is unique and of short height. I found one along the roadside of our local Jungle. It totally covered with Orange Red flowers. And there are no leafes.

Generally seen during the onset of Spring. When the entire jungle is covered with such tree , the Orange Red color gives a majestic look as the Jungle is set on Fire. Therefore, palash is also called as “flame of the forest"*.

Other important aspect is its black buds i.e the flowers originated from a black buds and the combination of black bottom and orange petals give a totally awesome and beautiful attractive look.

The fallen Petals on the ground also make the space quite beautiful as bed of Palash and the soil part is completelly turned into Orange Red coloured soil.

More importantly , the local people used to make natural colour out of these flower. These Color is further used to play Holi - The Festival of Color

People collects, the flowers and then soaked overnight a day before Holi to get a rich yellow color. This color was used for playing Holi. It is natural, organic and good for skin.

I googled further to find out other benefits and found it has some special mention in Ayurveda and Unani medicine. Here is some of the medicinal usage of Bueta Monosperma

Palash is a medicinal Indian herb and is used as an external as well as an internal remedy for the management of various ailments.

Palash bark is applied externally to treat wounds and cuts.

Palash seeds have a compound known as palaosin and often used to treat worm infestation. The seeds are also laxative in nature.

The gum can be used to treat dysentery and diarrhoea.
Dried flowers are used as colour and in bathing to cure skin rashes and infection in summers. The flowers are rich in Sulphur, which makes them perfect treatment for skin ailments. The flowers purify and cleanse the bloodstream of free radicals.

The paste of flowers is also applied externally to cure joint pains, swelling, sprains, injury and arthritis.

The bark of the tree also has blood purifying properties.

The concoction made by flowers is beneficial in impotency and menstrual cramps.

Fruits and seeds of the plant are used to treat skin ulcers, piles and disorders related to eyes such as cataract.
Roots of a palash tree is used as an analgesic. They are also used to cure night blindness.

Source

This is nature at best. The flower adding beauty to the surrounding. There is no fragrance of the flower still the looks beautify everything. Moreover the added benefits of medicine and a natural colour make it a special flower in our region.