THE ADDITIONAL PRINCIPAL CHIEF

CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS
(RESEARCH, EDUCATION & TRAINING)
MAHARASHTRA (PUNE)
PRIORITISED PLANTS BROCHURE

Saraca arborescens Burm.f.

(Sita-Ashok)

Name and taxonomy:

Botanical name :

Saraca arborescens Burm.f.

Synonym:

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) De Wilde

Saraca indica auct. (non L.)

Family:

Caesalpinaceae

Common Name:

Site-cha-ashok (Marathi); Ashok (Hindi);

Sorrowless tree (Eng.)

Threat Status:

Rare

Habit:

A slow-growing, small, evergreen, erect tree 6 to 12 m high

with a smooth grey-brown bark. The crown is compact and
shapely. The branchlets are spreading draped over by
clusters of orange-red flowers. Leaves alternate, abruptly
paripinnate and up to 30 cm long. Leaflets petiolate, oblong
& lanceolate with 3-22 cm length and 1-8 cm breadth.

Distribution, habitat
and climatic
conditions:

The tree is found wild along streams or in shade of the

evergreen forests. Indigenous to India, Sri-lanka, Burma
and Malaysia. Earlier it was distributed throughout India up
to an altitude of 720 m., but now it is left wild in sporadic
patches. In Maharashtra it is distributed in Tilari,
Sawantwadi, Matheran, Kolhapur, Ramghat.

Part used:

Barks: (Active Ingredients) Haematoxylin, tannins and

glycoside, leucopelargonidin and leucocyanidin.

Uses and Economic

returns:

The juice obtained from boiling the bark in water is a cure for
some ailments of women, and a pulp of the blossoms is one
of the remedies used for dysentery.
The bark is used in menorrhagia, uterine disorders and
gynaecological problems as well as internal bleeding,
bleeding haemorrhoids and haemorrhagic dysentry. Leaves
possess blood purifying properties. Flowers used in
dysentery and diabetes.
Compound Preparations: Ashokarishta, Ashokaghrita

Flowering:

Flowers during February to April, apetalous flowers, yellow

than changes to orange red after pollination and due to sun
light, very fragrant. Inflorescence is dense terminal corymb
upto 50 cm long, bracteolate.

Seed collection :

Fruits (pods) flat, leathery 14 cm x 4 cm approx., enclosed 48 seeds, ellipsoid-oblong, thick, cuneate at base and thick
along margins. Ripe fruits are dark purple or black in colour.
Pods are collected before drying between June-October.
Before summer pods open naturally and seeds are dropped
down on the ground for germinating in monsoon. Such seeds
can be collected. Seed weight 90-100 seeds/ kg.

Collection method:

Manual collection by picking of mature dry-pods.

Seed extraction/ presowing treatment:

The pods dried under shed to release the seed. Insect

infested seeds screened out.

Seed storage:

Not stored due to short viability i.e. less than 2 months. If

stored under cold condition seed retain viability upto 6
months.

Nursery techniques /
propagation

Seeds dibbled in nursery beds, germinate within 20 days,

after timely watering. Germination more than 50 %.
Germinated and firm plants picked out in polybags. Initial
protection from rodents is required.
Seed pans is recommended method for sowing seeds. Seed
pans filled with soil, sand @ FYM in 1:1:1 ratio. After 30-40
days the germinated seedlings can be pricked out in
polythene bags.

Silviculture / Planting
techniques:

One year old saplings planted in field in 60cm x60cm x60cm

size of pits at 8-10 m spacing. The growth is slow in initial
two years.

Harvesting/
Extraction:

Bark is removed from middle aged tree and sun dried for use
in preparation of various herbal medicines.

Activities taken up by
the research wing:

Since 2001-02 the experimental trials on Sita Ashok are

being taken up by the research wing on various locations like
Pune, Ajra, Koyna (Chirambe), Wada, Chandrapur. The
Nursery protocols are also being developed for propagation

of Asoka tree and sustainable harvesting protocol

development is going to be developed through outsourcing.
Provenance trial of Sita Ashok from various sources like
Pune, Phukeri, Sangli, Alibag, Nagpur and Dapoli has been
started in 2007 at Parwadi station of Ajra Research Range.

Propagation protocol through air layering is also successfully

achieved by the Ajra Research Range.

Cultural perspective:

It is believed that Sakyamuni, the founder of the Buddhist

religion and doctrine of Nirvana was born under an Asoka
tree in the 6th Century B.C. The tree is worshipped by all
Buddhists as well as Hindus. It is dedicated to Kama Deva
the god of love, who included an Asoka blossom among the
five flowers in his quiver.
Sita, wife of Rama, when abducted by the demon king
Ravana, was kept in a garden among groves of Asoka trees.
Both Buddhists and Hindus plant the trees around their
temples and the blossoms are used for religious offerings.
On Ashok-Shasthi day, women from Bengal eat the flower
buds. Hindu ladies believe that by drinking the water in which
flowers have lain, they will protect their children from grief.
There is a quaint Indian belief that trees will flower only in
places where a womans foot has trod and another which
asserts that a tree will bloom more vigorously if kicked by a
virgin damsel.
The ashoka tree is considered sacred throughout the Indian
subcontinent, especially in India and Srilanka. This tree has
many folklorical, religious and literary associations in the
region. Highly valued, as well, for its handsome appearance
and the colour and abundance of its flowers, the ashoka
trees are often found in royal palace-compounds and

gardens as well as close to temples throughout India.

The ashoka tree is closely associated with the Yakshi. The
sculpture of a Yakshi with her foot on the trunk and her
hands holding the branch of a flowering Ashoka tree is an
ancient symbol of fertility.
The ashoka tree is mentioned in the Ramayana as part of
the Ashoka
Vatika (garden
of
Ashoka
trees)
where Hanuman first met Sita. Hence the tree also referred
as Sita Ashoka. So dense was the tree growth at that time
that, Hanumana had to uproot many asoka trees for reaching
the place where Sita was housed. However, trees in AshokaVatica in Sri-Lanka are now considered belonging to the
different species, Saraca indica Linn.
The tree is often confused with drooping Ashupalav
(Polyalthia longifolia) Mast-tree native of Bengal which is
planted in gardens and as an avenue tree.