Mesua ferrea
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Species name: Mesua ferrea
This species is the national tree of Sri Lanka. The geography of Sri Lanka is quite similar to the South western regions of India. In fact, part of the Western Ghat seems to extend to Sri Lanka. Mesua ferrea is used in Indian cooking, as a medicine, for its fragrance and in the industry for its wood. Some people have noted the psychedelic effects of the fragrance of Nag Champa. The incense sticks made from the flowers of this plant are popular worldwide for their intense fragrance.
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Please note that the above slideshow is automatically created by searching Flickr and does not contain manually curated images. Hence, it is likely that some images may not be exactly of Mesua ferrea.
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Angiosperm phylogeny. This image is copyrighted. Rights owned by Theodore C.H.Cole (Heidelberg) and Hartmut H. Hilger (Berlin) 2010. Please obtain copyright permissions before reuse.
Click here for the PDF of the phylogeny
- Species identity and nomenclature
- Current Wikipedia entry
- Binomial Classification
- Morphological features
- Habitat and Geographical Spread
- Maps
- Medicinal Importance
- Cultural significance
- Commercial importance and cultivation
- Summary of PubMed articles
- Summary of NCBI molecular data
- External Links
- Images and Videos
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Names of users who have contributed to this species page | Gauravm | |
| Date on which this page was first created | 2010/10/19 | |
| This page was last modified on: | 8 October 2011 00:31:05 | |
| Name of the species | Mesua ferrea | |
| ID on Encyclopedia of Life | 11606170 | |
| Synonyms | Please check Binomial Classification section for synonyms. | |
| Common English Names | Cobra saffron, Ceylon ironwood, Indian rose chestnut | |
| Common Hindi Names | नाग चम्पा Nag champa, नागकेसर Nagkesar | |
| Common Indian names | नाग चम्पा Nag champa, नागकेसर Nagkesar (Hindi); नर्मिश्क Narmishka (Urdu);Tadinangu (Tamil);Thorlachampa (Marathi);Vainavu (Malayalam);নোক্তে Nokte (Assamese);নাগেসৰ Nageshor (Manipuri) | Flowers of India |
| Origins/Meanings of the common names |
Taxonomy from Encyclopedia of Life
If nothing is displayed in this section, it means the EoL ID has not been defined. Please click on Edit with form button on top and follow the instructions for filling in the EoL ID
{{#EoLOnlyHierarchy:11606170}}
Taxonomy filled in form
Click here for the PDF of the phylogeny
| Taxon | Value |
|---|---|
| Regnum (Kingdom) | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Theales |
| Family | Clusiaceae |
| Genus | Mesua |
| Source of data | Encyclopedia of Life |
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| Division | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliophyta | Also called Angiospermae. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms around 245–202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants known to exist are from 140 million years ago. They diversified enormously during the Lower Cretaceous and became widespread around 100 million years ago, but replaced conifers as the dominant trees only around 60-100 million years ago. | These are seed plants like Gymnosperms, but can be differentiated by the presence of flowers, seeds containing endosperm and seeds that produce a fruit. Angiosperms are the most diverse and highly evolutionarily successful group of land plants. |
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| Class | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliopsida | Magnoliopsida is the scientific name for dicots. This class contains about ~1,99,350 species of Angiosperms. Eudicots are a subset of Dicots. Based on chloroplast DNA sequences, the divergence date between monocots and dicots is estimated to be ~200 million years, with a 40 million years uncertainty. | Dicots are diverse in habit, with half of all the species being more or less woody-stemmed - a reflection of the usual presence of a vascular cambium in the class. Annuals, biennials, vines, epiphytes, aquatics, parasites, and saprotrophs are also well represented in dicots. Vascular bundles of the stem are usually borne in a ring that encloses the pith. Vessel elements present except in some putatively primitive woody or aquatic families. Most dicots have a primary root system derived from the radicle, although some have an adventitious root system commonly seen in the class of monocots. Cotyledons are usually 2, seldom 1, 3, or 4. Leaves are mostly net-veined. |
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Based on classification
More details can be found in the Binomial Classification section.
Morphology from Encyclopedia of Life
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{{#EoLOnlyDescription:11606170}}
General morphology
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General morphological features of the plant | Trees evergreen, 20-30 m tall. Trunk upright, buttressed at base; crown conic. Bark dark gray-brown, thin, fissured, lamellate, exuding aromatic white resin when wounded. Leaves always pendulous; petiole 5-8 mm; leaf blade reddish yellow when young, becoming dark green, abaxially usually glaucous, adaxially dark green and somewhat lucid, lanceolate or narrowly ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, (4-)6-10(-12) × (1-)2-4 cm, leathery; secondary veins numerous, obliquely parallel, slender and indistinct; tertiary veins and veinlets reticulate, ± visible under hand lens, base cuneate, apex acuminate or long acuminate to caudate. Pedicel 3-5 mm. Flowers bisexual, solitary, axillary, 5-8.5 cm in diam. Sepals (outer 2 slightly larger than inner 2) orbicular, convex, margin membranous and sometimes white ciliate. Petals white, obovate-cuneate, 3-3.5 cm. Stamens with filaments filiform, 1.5-2 cm; anthers golden-yellow, oblong. Ovary conic, ca. 1.5 cm; style 1-1.5 cm; stigma oblique. Fruit broadly ovoid or laterally depressed globose, ca. 3 × 2.5 cm, dry, longitudinally rugose, with stoutly pointed style at apex, usually dehiscent by 2 valves, with accrescent woody sepals and many persistent filaments at base; stalk robust, 0.8-1.2 cm. Seeds 1-4, ± irregular in shape; coat brown, fragile. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 32."Trees evergreen, 20-30 m tall. Trunk upright, buttressed at base; crown conic. Bark dark gray-brown, thin, fissured, lamellate, exuding aromatic white resin when wounded. Leaves always pendulous; petiole 5-8 mm; leaf blade reddish yellow when young, becoming dark green, abaxially usually glaucous, adaxially dark green and somewhat lucid, lanceolate or narrowly ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, (4-)6-10(-12) × (1-)2-4 cm, leathery; secondary veins numerous, obliquely parallel, slender and indistinct; tertiary veins and veinlets reticulate, ± visible under hand lens, base cuneate, apex acuminate or long acuminate to caudate. Pedicel 3-5 mm. Flowers bisexual, solitary, axillary, 5-8.5 cm in diam. Sepals (outer 2 slightly larger than inner 2) orbicular, convex, margin membranous and sometimes white ciliate. Petals white, obovate-cuneate, 3-3.5 cm. Stamens with filaments filiform, 1.5-2 cm; anthers golden-yellow, oblong. Ovary conic, ca. 1.5 cm; style 1-1.5 cm; stigma oblique. Fruit broadly ovoid or laterally depressed globose, ca. 3 × 2.5 cm, dry, longitudinally rugose, with stoutly pointed style at apex, usually dehiscent by 2 valves, with accrescent woody sepals and many persistent filaments at base; stalk robust, 0.8-1.2 cm. Seeds 1-4, ± irregular in shape; coat brown, fragile. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 32." cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. | EoL through eFloras |
| Seed dispersal mechanism | ||
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| Bloom type | ||
| Life cycle of the plant |
How to identify this species
For a detailed description, refer to the General Morphology details above
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Type of plant | Woody (Tree/Shrub) | |
| Plant height | More than 10 feet | |
| Flower color | ||
| Flower shape | ||
| Floral symmetry | Radial | Google Images |
| Phyllotaxy of leaves | ||
| Leaf shape | ||
| Is the leaf petiolated or sessile? | ||
| Is the leaf simple or compound? |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| IUCN Conservation Status | Not Evaluated | |
| Indian States in which the species has been documented | Assam,Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Bihar,Karnataka,Kerala,Maharashtra,Orissa,Pondicherry,Sikkim,Tamil Nadu,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal | Plant Database of India |
| Locations at which the species has been documented | ||
| Biotic zones inhabited | Northeastern Himalayas, Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, Indo-Gangetic Plain, Outlying Islands | |
| Details about the habitat | ||
| Is this species native to India? | Yes | |
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Sub-Himalayan regions? | ||
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Western Ghats? | Yes | |
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Eastern Ghats? |
More plants native to India
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If no maps are displayed below, it means the required data is absent. Click on "Edit with form" button on top of the page to add this information.
{{#generateMap:Assam,Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Bihar,Karnataka,Kerala,Maharashtra,Orissa,Pondicherry,Sikkim,Tamil Nadu,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal|Mesua_ferrea_brahma.svg|align=center}}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Does this species have any medicinal use? | Yes |
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Other plants of the same family having medicinal use:
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| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General types of ailments this species is used for treating | ||
| Specific ailments for which the species is used | ||
| Medicinal systems which use this plant | Ayurveda, Folk Medicine | |
| Details of Medicinal use | ||
| Parts of the plant used for treatment | Root, Leaves, Flower, Seeds | Flowers of India |
| Names of some medicinal active compounds in this plant, if known. | ||
| Details of the active chemical compounds found in this plant | ||
| Is the molecular basis of the medicinal action known? | ||
| Details of molecular basis of action | ||
| Are the toxic effects of consumption of this plant known? | ||
| Details of the toxic effects of the plant species | ||
| Have there been validation/clinical studies related to this plant? | ||
| Details of the clinical studies related to the plant species |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant/plant-derived product used in food preparations? | Yes | User-reported |
| Part(s) of the plant used in the food preparations | ||
| Details of use in food preparations | ||
| Does this species have any religious significance? | ||
| Religions which mention/give significance to this species | ||
| Religious occasions | ||
| Details of religious use |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant cultivated commercially in India? | Yes | |
| Uses for which the plant is commercially cultivated | Medicinal use, Religious use, Wood | Wikipedia |
| Plant parts of commercial value | Stem, Bark, Flower | Wikipedia |
| Products where this plant is used | User-reported | |
| Description of use | ||
| States where this plant is cultivated commercially | ||
| Best period for planting this plant | ||
| Best period for harvesting this plant | ||
| Method of propagation | ||
| Water requirement of this plant | ||
| Pests and Diseases affecting this plant during cultivation | ||
| Other considerations while cultivating this plant |
Pubmed Word cloud
This word cloud is obtained using the tool LigerCat by searching the Pubmed database. LigerCat builds the cloud from the most relevant Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Each term's relative size indicates how many times it appears in the PubMed search results. Click on a term to access the full LigerCat cloud, with live PubMed search capabilities. LigerCat has been developed for the Biology of Aging Project.
The page may take some time to load since LigerCat is searching the entire PubMed database and sending us the results in real time.
- If there is an error message below, it means that there is no retrievable information available on NCBI
- If the number of nucleotide sequences is less than 100, very little genomic work has been done on this species. A respectable number of nucleotide sequences is above 10000.
- Most of the nucleotide sequences may come from three sources:
- Studies on single genes, where people try to sequence genes such as some specific dehydrogenases important,say, for tannin production
- Sequences of Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer, whose sequence is used for generating molecular phylogenetic trees to establish species relationships
- Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) which can tell about which genes are present and expressed in the species at a particular time in the given tissue
{{#queryDB:taxonomy |Mesua ferrea }}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Details of modern scientific knowledge available for this species | ||
| Are herbarium specimen available for this species? | ||
| Institutes having herbarium samples |
If nothing is displayed in this section, it means the EoL ID has not been defined. Please click on Edit with form button on top and follow the instructions for filling in the EoL ID
{{#EoLOnlyAdditionalInfo:11606170}}
References
EoL (Web): Encyclopedia of Life entry, Accessdate=2010-10-19
eFloras (Web): eFloras of China, Accessdate=2010-10-19
Flowers of India (Web): Flowers of India entry on Nag Kesar, Accessdate=2010-10-19
Plant Database of India (Web): Plant Database of India, Accessdate=2011-10-08
