What is Alstonia known for?
Alstonia scholaris, commonly known as devil’s tree, is an important medicinal plant in the various folk and traditional systems of medicine in Asia, Australia, and Africa. The decoction, mostly prepared from the bark, is used to treat a variety of diseases of which the most important is malaria. It is a toxic plant, but traditionally it is used medicinally for myriad diseases and complaints. Alstonia scholaris is a glabrous tree and grows up to 40 m (130 ft) tall. Its mature bark is grayish and its young branches are copiously marked with lenticels.Diseased leaf of Alstonia scholaris, commonly called blackboard tree, scholar tree, milkwood or devil’s tree. Leaf Disease in Scholar Tree (Alstonia Scholaris). It is commonly infected by the Homopteran, Pauropsylla tuberculata Crawf which leads to unsightly gall formation on the leaves.
What is the Indian name for Alstonia?
It is called ‘Saptaparna’ in India and is the sacred tree of the 2nd Jain tirthankar Ajitnatha. It was first described by Linnaeus in 1767, who gave it the name Echites scholaris. The Panchavati, or the five sacred trees- Peepal (Ficus religiosa), Belpatra (Aegle marmelos), Banyan (Ficus benghalensis), Amla (Phyllanthus emblica), and Ashoka (Saraca asoca) hold immense cultural, medicinal, and ecological significance in Indian traditions.
What is another name for Alstonia boonei?
Alstonia boonei De Wild is a herbal medicinal plant of West African origin, popularly known as God’s tree or “Onyame dua”. Alstonia boonei De Wild is a deciduous tree up to 35 meters high (Figure 1). It buttresses deep-fluted high and narrow. Its white latexes are copious. The leaves are in whorls at nodes, oblanceolate, apex rounded to acuminate, lateral vein prominent almost at right angle to midrib.