Flora of Bangladesh

Bon nil or Wild indigo ( Tephrosia purpurea , Family: Fabaceae) is an annual or biennial leafy and bushy herb or undershrub with spreading branches, attaining a height of .75-1 m. Branches are glabrous or slightly hairy. It is found in thickets and forests all over the country. It is also found in tropical Africa, Indian subcontinent, some countries of Southeast Asia and some parts of Australia.     Other names: Lohamari, Jongli nil, Buno nil (Bang); Purple tephrosia, Fish poison (Eng). Leaves are light green, pinnately compound, 6-10 cm long, leaflets 15-21, paripinnate or imparipinnate, opposite, ovate-oblanceolate, glabrous above, silky hairs bebeath. Flowers are Pea-like, 2-lipped, purple, 8-10 mm long, The corolla is two times longer than the calyx. 2-4 flowers in axillary inflorescence (6-18 cm long). It flowers in autumn (Sep-Nov). Fruit is legume, 4-6 cm long, linear, slightly curved at the top, dark brown when dry, dehiscent. Seeds are inedible, 5-9. Flowers a...

Ramjani or Wild berry ( Maesa indica , family: Primulaceae) is a large and much-branched shrub or small tree, attaining a height about 2 m. Wood is soft, brown in color. The wild flowering species grows on fallow land as well as the deep forest of Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet.  Leaves are simple, light green, alternate, elliptic-lanceolate, 6-17 cm long and 3-6 cm wide, deeply serrated, apex pointed, base rounded. Flowers are small, campanulate, scented, white but single tiny yellow mark on each petal, borne on raceme inflorescence. Flowers occur in the January-March.  Fruits are small, round, yellow in color, fleshy with several seeds. Fruiting begins from March. Propagation of the plant is caused by seeds.  Wood is used as fuel. Fruit and bark are used in fish-poison. Leaves are used in cooking somewhere.