mushka :

Schrebera swietenioides is a deciduous tree with a large, dense crown; it can grow up to 20 metres tall[

].
The plant is hightly valued for its wood, which is much used locally but rarely traded. It is also harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine, and is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental in gardens.

Taxonomical Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Schrebera
Species: Schrebera swietenioides

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: Ghantapatali, Golidha, Kastapatola
English: weavers beam tree
Hindi: बनपलास Banpalas, मोखड़ी Mokhdi, मोखा Mokha
Telugu: bullakaya, magalinga, tondamukkudi
Marathi: मोखा Mokha, mokadi, nakti
Oriya: mokka
Tamil: kattupparutticceti, mogalingam, makalinkam
Malayalam: maggamaram, malamplasu, muskkakavrksam
Kannada: bula, gante, mogalingamara

Synonyms

Synonyms in Ayurveda: mushka, mokshakaka, ghunti, shikhari, kshudra patala, ksharashreshtha, mokshaka, kalamushkaka

Cultivation:

The flowers become very fragrant overnight, when they are pollinated by moths

Propogation:

Seed - sow with the wings pointing upwards in a containers in a lightly shaded position. Stored seed usually germinates within 4 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant out when large enough

Morphology:

Weavers Beam Tree is a moderate sized deciduous tree, growing up to 20 m tall, with thick grey bark. Leaves are pinnate, with 3-4 pairs of opposite leaflets, and a terminal one. Leaflets are ovate, entire, unequal-sided, petioles thickened at the insertion of leaflets. Flowers are yellowish white, variegated with brown, in terminal trichotomous, corymb-like, compound clusters. Flowers are fragrant at night. Flower tube is funnel- shaped, 8-12 mm long. Petals are 5-7, widely spreading, wedg-shaped, blunt, with brown glandular raised dots on the upper side. Capsule is the size of a hens egg, pear-shaped, woody, hard, scabrous, 2-celled, seeds 4 in each cell, pendulous, irregularly oval, compressed, produced into a long membranous wing. The wood is used by weavers to make the beam of the looms. Flowering: February-April.

Geographical distribution:

Bellary, Gulbarga, Mysore, Uttara Kannada

General Use:

The roots, bark and leaves are bitter, acrid, appetising, digestive, thermogenic, stomachic, depurative, constipating urinary astringent and anthelmintic. The fruits are reported to be useful in curing hydrocele

Therapeutic Uses:

The plant has a long history of being used to treat various diseases. The roots, bark and leaves are bitter, acrid, appetising, digestive, thermogenic, stomachic, depurative, constipating urinary astringent and anthelmintic[

372

]. They are useful in treating a range of conditions including indigestion, skin diseases, leprosy, anaemia, boils and burns and rectal disorders[

1125

].

The bark is used to treat diseases of the throat, anaemia, bleeding piles and diabetes[

1125

].

The fruits are reported to be useful in curing hydrocele[

372

].

The roots are used in the treatment of leprosy[

240

].

Scientific investigations have proved the anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities of the root and antidiabetic and antioxidant effect of the fruit[

1125

].

The root bark contains some bioactive agents that are powerful antioxidants, which prevent or repair the damage done to the cells by free radicals or highly reactive oxygen species. A significant observation was that the content of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins was much higher in the root bark compared to the leaves and stem bark. The anti-anaemic property of the plant may be attributed to the presence of the above-mentioned bioactives as they are known to exert anti-oxidant activity as reported in the literature. From our study, it can be established that the anti-anaemic potential of the root bark can be explored for further research in developing a novel herbal delivery system[

1125

].
The collective data of this study revealed that root bark has considerable anti-anaemic activity, indicating the use of this plant for the treatment of anaemia[