Butea frondosa

Butea monosperma is a species of Butea native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and western Indonesia. Common names include flame-of-the-forest and bastard teak. It is a medium-sized dry-season deciduous tree, growing to 15 m (49 ft) tall. It is a slow-growing tree: young trees have a growth rate of a few feet per year. The leaves are pinnate, with an 8–16 cm (3.1–6.3 in) petiole and three leaflets, each leaflet 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in) long. The flowers are 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long, bright orange-red, and produced in racemes up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. The fruit is a pod 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) long and 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in) broad. In West Bengal, it is associated with spring, especially through the poems and songs of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who likened its bright orange flame-like flower to fire. In Santiniketan, where Tagore lived, this flower has become an indispensable part of the celebration of spring. The plant has lent its name to the town of Palashi, famous for the historic Battle of Plassey fought there. In the state of Jharkhand, palash is associated with folk tradition. Many folk literary expressions describe palash as the forest fire. The beauty of dry deciduous forests of Jharkhand reach their height when most trees have shed their leaves and the Palash is in its full bloom. Palash is also the State Flower of Jharkhand. It is said that the tree is a form of Agni, the God of Fire. In Telangana, these flowers are specially used in the worship of Lord Shiva on occasion of Shivaratri. In Telugu, this tree is called Modugu chettu. In Kerala, this is called plasu and chamata. Chamata is the vernacular version of Sanskrit word samidha, small piece of wood that is used for agnihotra or the fire ritual. In most of the old namboodiri (Kerala Brahmin) houses, one can find this tree because this is widely used for their fire ritual. Tamil Brahmins have a daily agnihotra ritual called Samidha Dhanan, where barks of this tree is a main component for agnihotra, and this ritual is very essential for brahmacharis during the first year of brahmacharya. In Theravada Buddhism, Butea monosperma is said to have used as the tree for achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi by Lord Buddha called Medhankara – මේධංකර. The plant is known as කෑල in Sinhala. Historically, dhak forests covered much of the doab area between the Ganges and the Yamuna, but these were cleared for agriculture in the early 19th century as the English East India Company increased tax demands on the peasants.