Parkia timoriana (DC.)Merr.

Tree

Flowering: August-September. Fruiting: October-February

Flowering & Fruiting: September-May.

Tree Bean is a very large tree about 25-40 m in height endemic to North-East India. The leaves are evenly bipinnate and 30-80 cm long. The pinnae are 40-60 in number and 8-20 cm long. The leaflets are 60-140, linear-oblong, 6-12 mm long, close-set, shining above, and pointed at the tip. The flower-heads are dense, obovoid or perform, up to 6 cm long, hanging from leaf axils like old-fashioned electric bulbs on long cable-like stalks. The flowers are white and yellow, about 1 cm long. The fruit is a long, flattened legume pod about 25-30 cm long and 3.5 cm wide, rather thick, pendulous, and black and shinning when mature, and contain about 15-20 seeds. The pods are edible, and are considered a delicacy by Manipur communities. Their pulp is golden yellow, with a sweetish taste and an odor like that of violets

A middle sized unarmed tree with spreading branches. Leaves bipinnate. Flowers pale yellow; pod 10 - 20 inch. by 1- 5 inch., smooth, dark brown. Generally found in Sibsagar & Barak valley and in Karbi Anglong

Shrubs or small trees, 2-6 m tall; branchlets pubescent, glabrous when old, with brown lenticels. Leaves compound; pinnae 4-8 pairs, ca. 5-16 cm; rachis pu­bescent with black glands; stipules caducous, deltoid, very small; leaflets 5-15 pairs, lamina ca. 7-13 × 1.5-3 mm, linear-oblong, cuneate at base, acute at apex, ciliate along margin, main vein close to upper margin. Heads usually 1 or 2, axillary, ca. 2-3 cm in diam.; peduncle ca. 2-4 cm; bracts deciduous, pubescent; Flowers white; calyx ca. 3 mm, outside glabrous at base, puberulent at apex, 5-toothed; petals ca. 5 mm, narrowly oblanceolate, outside pubescent; stamens 10, ca. 7 mm, sparsely pubescent; ovary shortly stipitate, sparsely pubescent; stigma cupular. Legume 10-18 × 1.4-2 cm, straight, strap-shaped, flat, coriaceous, base attenuate, pedicel ca. 3 cm, pubescent, beak acute, hard. Seeds 6-25, ca. 6-9 × 3-4.5 mm, brown, glossy, narrowly ovoid, flat. (Singh, 2000).

Open areas, roadsides, forest edges

Open areas, roadsides, forest edges

The tender pods are eaten as vegetables especially with fishes

Nutritional Value

Energy 514 kcal; carbohydrate 37.3 gm; protein 26.1 gm; total fat 28.8 gm; dietary fibre 2.56 gm; ash 5.05 gm; vitamin C 22.2 mg; folic acid 7.53 gm and small amount of beta-carotene per 100 gm

The tender pods are eaten as vegetable especially with fishes

Tender fruits are eaten as vegetable.

They are considered to have laxative and anti-helmintic properties. The Pods are used in treatment of bleeding piles and bark extract is used by traditional healers in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. The bark and leaves are also employed for making lotion applied to sores and skin affections. Powdered seeds are considered useful when applied externally to wounds, ulcers, and the abdomen to relieve pain