Pongamia pinnata /  Karanja Tree

Indian Beech Tree /Pongamia pinnata A tree that produces biofuel

Infected leaves of Karanja Tree

                                    

Pongamia pinnata/ Millettia pinnata / Tree / Karanj /  Papadi / करंज का पेड़/पोंगामिया पिनाटा  

                      

                                                 Indian Beech Tree /  Pongame Oil Tree
Names

Scientific name :Millettia pinnata ./ Pongamia pinnata.

Common Name : Pongamie glabra

Pongam, Poonga-Oil Tree, Karum Tree, Indian Beech Tree, Pongam oil tree

Karanja Tree

Indian beech Tree

Poonga oil Plant

Pongam Tree

Panigrahi

Arabic: um al shuur;
Burmese: thiuwia;
Chinese: Shui huang pi (水黃皮); 
English: Indian beech, Karum tree, Indian pongamia, Mullikulam tree, Pongam oil tree, Pongam, Pongamia tree,  Pongam oil tree,  Poonga oil tree;
Hindi: Karnja, Pongam;
Japanese:  Kuro yona (クロヨナ), Kuro yona (黒ヨナ), Mirettia pinnata (ミレッティア・ピンナタ);

Kannada: Honge (ಹೊಂಗೆ), Honge bīja (ಹೊಂಗೆ ಬೀಜ);
Malayalam: Pungam, Ungam;
Sanskrit: Karanja, Naktamāla (नक्तमाल);
Sinhalese:  Karanda, Gal karanda, Magul karanda;
Tamil:  Puggam, Poona, Pungai (புங்கை), Punka, Punku;
Telugu: Kānuga (కానుగ);
Inglés: Karanja, Karanj, Indian beech, Pongam, Pongamia tree, Indian pongamia, Pongamia;
French: arbre de pongolote
Kinyarwanda: Igiti, cy’Ubuhinde;
Swahili: pongami, honge;
Indonesian: malapari, mempari;
Javanese: bangkong;
Sundanese: ki Pahang laut,
Madurese: kranji;
Malaysian: Pokok mempari, mempari, kacang kayu laut, biansu;
Philippines: bani;
Chinese: Shuǐ huáng pí (水黄皮);
Thai: H̄yī n n̂ả ( หยีนน้ำ);
Vietnamese: Đậu dầu, cây Pongam, cây SOI Ấn Độ, cây Honge;
Assamese: Korach;
Kannada: Honge,;
Marathi: Karanja;
Gujarati: Kanaji,
Punjabi: Karanj;
Telugu: Ganuga, Kanugu;
Oriya: Karanja;
Urdu: Karanj Plant

Cattle do not eat this tree. Its wood is not of good quality and is used mostly as fuel. The seeds, leaves and roots yield oil of medicinal value. The fruits are edible.

Introduction

Pongamia pinnata
Common name: Indian elm
Family: Fabaceae
Description: Moderate sized tree upto 7 m high. Leaves alternate, pinnate, stipules small, oblong, caducous. Inflorescence a panicled raceme, axillary and terminal. Fruit a pod, oblong-obovoid, compressed, woody. Seeds solitary, reniform, brown at both ends.
Flowering and Fruits: March – April

The Indian Beech Tree, scientifically known as Pongamia pinnata, is a versatile and valuable tree native to India and other parts of Southeast 

Native: India

The tree is well suited to intense heat and sunlight, and its dense network of lateral roots and its thick, long Taproot  make it drought tolerant. The dense shade it provides slows the evaporation of surface water and its root nodules  promote nitrogen fixation, a symbiotic process by which gaseous nitrogen (N₂) from the air is converted into ammonium (NH₄⁺, a form of nitrogen available to the plant). M. pinnata is also a freshwater flooded forest  species, as it can survive total submergence in water for few months continuously. 

It is often known by the synonym Pongamia pinnata. Its common names include Indian beech. Evergreen Plant Size 15-25 m in height, 50-80 cm in bole diameter 

Bark Grey-brown. Native : Tropical and temperate Asia including parts of Indian subcontinent, China, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Pacific islands

The tree is medium-sized, evergreen or briefly deciduous usually 8 meters tall but reaches 15 to 25 meters. Trunk is crooked or straight about 50 cm in diameter which is covered with grey-greyish brown bark usually smooth or vertically fissured. It has deep and thick taproot having several secondary lateral roots. Branches are drooping or spreading and forms a broad hemispherical crown of dark green leaves. Branchlets are hairless with pale stipule scars.

Leaves

Leaf broadly elliptic. Leaves are alternately arranged along the stems. Leaves are pinnately compound, alternate and consist of 5-7 leaflets that are glabrous and borne in 2 or 3 pairs and a single terminal one on slender stalks. Leaflets are ovate-elliptical, pointed at tip and about 5-10 cm long and 4-6 cm wide.

                              

Karanja leaves

Croppings of  indehiscent pods can occur by 4–6 years. The brown seed pods appear immediately after flowering, and mature in 10 to 11 months. The pods are thick-walled, smooth, somewhat flattened, and elliptical, but slightly curved with a short, curved point. The pods contain within them one or two bean-like brownish-red seeds, but because they do not split open naturally, the pods need to decompose before the seeds can germinate. The seeds are about 1.5–2.5 cm (0.59–0.98 in) long with a brittle, oily coat, and are unpalatable in natural form to herbivores.

The species is naturally distributed in tropical and temperate Asia, from India to Japan to Thailand to Malesia to north and north-eastern Australia to some Pacific islands;^[3][4] It has been propagated and distributed further around the world in humid and subtropical environments from sea level to 1,360 m (Chingola, Zambia), although in the Himalayan foothills, it is not found above 600 m.^[12] Withstanding temperatures slightly below 0 °C (32 °F) and up to about 50 °C (122 °F) and annual rainfall of 500–2,500 mm (20–98 in), the tree grows wild on sandy and rocky soils, including oolitic limestone, and will grow in most soil types, even with its roots in salt water.^[13]

Fragrant Flower 

Flowering Season October and January .Flower Creamy white or pink Pods shape & size Elliptic-oval, indehiscent, 1.5-2 inches long and 0.75-1 inches wide. An inflorescence is 6-27 cm long raceme of papilionaceous and fragrant flowers. Flowers are pink white, lavender in color, pubescent and about 15-18 mm long. Flowers are followed by fruits.

Flowering generally starts after 3–4 years with small clusters of white, purple, and pink Flowers  blossoming throughout the year. The raceme -like inflorescences bear two to four flowers that are strongly fragrant  and grow to be 15–18 mm (0.59–0.71 in) long. The calyx  of the flowers is bell-shaped and truncated, while the corolla  is a rounded ovate shape with basal auricles and often with a central blotch of green color.

Stem

Seeds

Millettia pinnata seeds generally contain oil (27-39%), protein (17-37%), starch (6-7%), crude fiber (5-7%), moisture (15-20%) and ash content (2-3%). Nearly half of the oil content of M. pinnata seeds is oleic acid. Oil made from the seeds, known as pongamia oil, has been used as lamp oil, in soapmaking, and as a lubricant. The oil has a high content of triglycerides, and its disagreeable taste and odor are due to bitter flavonoid constituents, including karanjin, pongamol, tannin, and karanja chromene. These biocompounds induce nausea and vomiting if ingested in its natural form.

Seeds from this tree is thought to be a potential source of biofuel, especially in India.Seed Flattened, transversely elliptical, 1.5-2.5 centimeters (0.59–0.98 in) long Seeds color Brownish-red. Croppings of  indehiscent pods can occur by 4–6 years. The brown seed pods appear immediately after flowering, and mature in 10 to 11 months. The pods are thick-walled, smooth, somewhat flattened, and elliptical, but slightly curved with a short, curved point. The pods contain within them one or two bean-like brownish-red seeds, but because they do not split open naturally, the pods need to decompose before the seeds can germinate. The seeds are about 1.5–2.5 cm (0.59–0.98 in) long with a brittle, oily coat, and are unpalatable in natural form to herbivores.

Seed Flattened, transversely elliptical, 1.5-2.5 centimeters (0.59–0.98 in) long Seeds color Brownish-red. Seeds measures 1.5-2.5 cm long x 1.2-2.0 cm wide and is dark brown.

Fruit

Fruits are elliptical pods about 3-6 cm long x 2-3 cm broad. Pods contain 1 to 2 seeds which resembles bean. 

Uses

Millettia pinnata is well-adapted to arid zones, and has many traditional uses. It is often used for landscaping as a windbreak or for shade due to the large canopy and showy, fragrant flowers. The flowers are used by gardeners as compost  for plants. The bark can be used to make twine or rope, and it also yields a black gum that has historically been used to treat wounds caused by poisonous fish. The wood is said to be beautifully grained, but splits easily when sawn, thus relegating it to firewood , posts, and tool handles.The tree's deep taproot and drought tolerance makes this tree ideal for controlling soil erosion  and binding sand dunes.  It can be grown in rainwater harvesting ponds up to 6 m (20 ft) in water depth without losing its greenery and remaining useful for biodiesel production.     ://natureloversindia123.blogspot.com/2023/05/karanja-tree.html