Bani
Pongamia pinnata · Pongam
- Names in the book
- Balikbalik, Tag.; Butog̃, Vis.
- Colours
- flowerpink, lilac, white
- Native range
- Tropical Asia to Australia and the Pacific
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Luzon and Panay. Blooms in October.
- Family
- Fabaceae, filed in the book under Leguminosæ. (Papilionaceæ.)
- Printed as
- Pongamia glabra, Vent. (Robinia mitis, L.; Gadelupa maculata, Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 95 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Pongamia pinnata is a species of tree in the pea family Fabaceae, native to eastern and tropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. It is often known by the synonym Millettia pinnata. Its common names include Indian beech, Karanja, and Pongame oiltree.
Excerpt from “Pongamia pinnata” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 375 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 36 provinces, most often Palawan (30), Quezon (11), Batanes (6), Occidental Mindoro (6), Batangas (5), Cagayan (5), Davao del Sur (5), Surigao del Norte (5), and 28 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The oil expressed from the seeds is used in India for lighting purposes, and in addition is of notable therapeutic value. It is an excellent local remedy for the itch, for herpes and especially for pityriasis versicolor, used alone or emulsified with lemon juice. In stubborn cases Dymock recommends the addition of oil of hydrocarpus, camphor and powdered sulphur. Dr. Gibson states that he knows of no plant in the vegetable kingdom possessing more notable curative properties in itch, herpes and other cutaneous diseases than the plant under consideration. It is also used as an embrocation in articular rheumatism.
The powdered leaves mixed with common salt and pepper are given internally with a little milk, as a remedy for leprosy.
The juice of the root makes a useful wash for gangrenous ulcers and a good injection for fistula.
Botanical description
A tree, 18° high, with leaves opposite, odd-pinnate. Leaflets in 3 pairs, ovate, lanceolate, entire, glabrous and membranaceous. Flowers slightly spotted, racemose. Calyx bell-shaped, with 5 scarcely visible toothlets. Corolla papilionaceous, petals equal, clawed. Standard with 2 callosities athwart the base. Stamens 10, diadelphous. Pod with one seed, which is flat, smooth, veined, bright red.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Total Syntheses and Anti-inflammatory Evaluations of Pongamosides A-C, Natural Furanoflavonoid Glucosides from Fruit of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre
- Optimal Enzyme-Assisted Extraction of Phenolics from Leaves of Pongamia pinnata via Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Networking
- MpNAC1, a transcription factor from the mangrove associate Millettia pinnata, confers salt and drought stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis and rice