Distribution and habitat:  Found throughout India

Botany :

• Leaves : Very large, 90-180 cm long, 2-3 pinnate with 5 or more pairs of primary pinnae, rachis very soft, cylindric, swollen at the junction of the branches, leaflets 2-4 pairs ovate or elliptic, acuminate, glabrous.
• Flowers: Lurid to reddish purple outside, dull or pale pinkish yellow within, numerous in large erect racemes. Fruits flat capsules, up to 1m long tapering to both ends, woody.
• Seeds : Many, flat, winged all round except at the base.
• Root bark :  Soft and juicy and cream yellow to grey in colour. It is sweet later becoming bitter. On drying, the bark shrinks, adheres closely to the wood and becomes faintly fissure.

Properties: Astringent, carminative, purgative, spasmolytic

Chemical constituents:  Baicalien, its 6 glucoside, p-coumaric acid, prunetin, β-sitosterol and long chain fatty acids.

Uses:

• Root is used in inflammations, neuralgia, bronchitis, anorexia and hiccough.
• Leaves used in cephalalgia, ulcer and splenomegaly.
• Fruits used in cough, bronchitis, cardiac disorders, bronchitis.
• Seeds are purgative in property.

Propagation: Seed