Medicinal Mayan Trees Fiddlewood Trees Treats Asthma, Chest Cold Rheumatism

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 334-365 

Fiddle wood is a graceful deciduous or evergreen tree with fragrant blooms

Fiddlewood Trees (English),Citharexylum spinosum ,  Barrabas (Spanish), Ya'ax Niik or Yaxnik (Maya), Vitex gaumeri, Verbenaceae Family. Native to Yucatan, Mexico. "Ya'ax niik Che" (fiddlewood trees) grow wild in Mayan dry forests. Blooms clusters of small blue flowers in April and May; its fruit has green skin when ripe with one large seed. Palmately elliptic leaflets; thick grayish trunk over cut for its valuable lumber, now endangered. Since ancient times Maya J-Men Healers use its leafs in traditional healings.

 
Family - Taxodiaceae (Redwood family)

The botanical name is Citharexylum fruticosum (sith-ar-RECKS-sil-lum  froo-tick-OH-sum) a name that can take us on quite a linguistic journey because “cithera” means guitar. So why is it “fiddlewood?”  Almost directly translated the botanical name means “lyre wood shrubby”  Put in better terms it could mean “guitar wood tree” or more directly  “shubby kythera.” (KITH-ah-rah)  Kythera (a lyre is kythara, kith-THA-rah) is also the Greek word from which we get “guitar” … kith-THA-rah… get-TAR…see it? Hear it? The Fiddlewood tree is also called the Guitar Tree.

How To Grow It

The Fiddlewood can be planted in full sun to light shade in a wide range of soil types and once established is extremely drought tolerant. For best results, full sun is preferred as the canopy of the Fiddlewood will become dense and flower and fruit prolifically. 
 
Propagation is by seed. The tree is remarkably hearty and not normally subject to diseases as it matures. However, be on the lookout for moth caterpillars that have been known to make a meal on the leaves. Thankfully they rarely do any lasting damage to the tree.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Ripe fruit edible raw, but not great.  Do not eat the seeds.

Medicinal Uses

• Citharexylum spinosum treats asthma.  Five or six leaves are pounded and the juice extracted and mixed with a spoon of Barbados oil.  
• For a bad chest cold with phlegm, juvenile leaves are pounded in a little water to extract the juice and a teaspoon each of olive oil and castor oil or coconut oil added, swizzled well, and given to drink.  
• For rheumatism, remove the thick bark of the tree, dry it, and put it in a pint of wine.  Drink a small wine glass full every morning. This is to purify the blood.

Good for Bees

The nectar-rich flowers are very attractive to bee

 

 

Mayan Trees Balche

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 333-365

Baalche' (Maya), Lonchocarpus longistylus, Pitter,  Fabaceae family. An evergreen semi-deciduous tropical hardwood tree, Baalche' is native the Yucatan and Guatemala. Its trunk is straight with long thin branches spreading with dense foliage.  In Yucatan, the Maya ferment Baalche' bark, and add honey to create a sacred  beverage since Pre-Hispanic times. Baalche' leafs are composite, impair-pinnate, with 15 oblong leaflets. Blooms in Sept as a papilionaceous, in clusters of small orchid purple-violet flowers.
 
Balché is a mildly intoxicating beverage common among ancient and indigenous cultures in areas of what are now Mexico and upper Central America. Today, the drink is still common among the Yucatec Maya, and is made from the bark of a leguminous tree (Lonchocarpus violaceus), which is soaked in honey and water, and fermented. A closely related beverage, made from honey produced from the nectar of a species of morning glory (Turbina corymbosa), was called xtabentún.

History
 
The peoples of Mesoamerica have long held the balché tree and their mysterious beverage sacred. Because the drink had strong religious significance to the Maya, the Spaniards banned the beverage in an attempt to convert them to Christianity. The ban was observed until a Maya named Chi convinced the Spaniards that balché had important health benefits and that many Maya were dying as a result of the prohibition. 
 
The Spaniards then lifted their ban, and balché rituals resumed. . . .
The Lacandon. . . believe that the gods gave balché rituals to them, and that because the gods themselves first became inebriated by the beverage, the people from then on had a duty to imitate the inebriation of the gods and to experience that same exhilaration. 
 
The Lacandon chant incantations while preparing the balché. . . First, the brewer offers his drink to the gods; then, later, the people partake of it, usually just before dawn. 
 
The Lacandon call the balché brewer "Lord of the Balché" and they identify him with Bohr or Bol, the god of inebriation.
 
links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38jaV0i86UQ

Mayan Trees Copal tree

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 332-365
 

Copal trees, or Pom (Maya), Protium copal, Burseraceae family of torchwood trees. Maya people highly value the Copal tree resin as a sacred incense in all their mystical ceremonies and sacred rituals.  Before harvesting the Copal resin, the Maya celebrate Mayan rituals for the Aluxes (small supernatural creatures who live in and guard the Mayan forest). Mayan J-Men bless with great reverence their valuable copal resin, a highly combustible sap that hardens as it dries in golden milky amber-quartz like chunks.


Copal is a name given to tree resin that is particularly identified with the aromatic resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and other purposes.

To the pre-Columbian Maya and contemporary Maya peoples it is known in the various Mayan languages as pom (or a close variation thereof)

Copal is still used by a number of indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America as an incense, during sweat lodge ceremonies and Sacred Mushroom ceremonies ..

Copal is from the Nahuatl language and the word is derived from “copalli,” which means incense; Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs. In Belize, copal is used as incense and can be found in most market places in the country; they are sold in one pound blocks of resin in its most natural form, with complimentary pieces of dried bark, leaves and drunken baymen, wrapped in leaf parcels.



The Maya and Latino people of Toledo, pieces of copal on coals for spiritual cleansing. Copal has been used in ancient Maya and Aztec ceremony as a ritual offering to the gods. The secondary and less well-known use of copal is as medicine.

The concept of “evil eye” and “spiritual cleansing”  so people use of copal for these purpose.

Medicinal Uses

• Copal was used in its raw, unrefined form and was used especially for skin infections (bark, leaves, dead flies and all!). 
• the resin has been used to plug tooth cavities, 
• as an expectorant and 
• in the treatment of muscular aches and pains.
• copal’s white smoke helps with headaches and relieves diseases associated with cold and humidity.  
• the resin is used in tea to treat bronchitis and applied locally for coughs and rheumatism.

 Chemically copal resin is made up of isomeric tertiary and secondary, cyclic terpene alcohols. These constituents are known to have

• antiseptic (both externally and internally) and 
• anti-rheumatic properties

No side effects or allergic reactions have been reported. 

 The gum [resin] is boiled, shaped into hard pellets, burned with live coals in incense burners, and the fumes allowed to pass over the body to cure various illnesses, to protect oneself against sorcery, sickness, and misfortune, and to cleanse the body after contact with the ritually unclean, especially sick persons and corpses. 

A tea of the bark is taken to relieve dysentery.  A type of sandal is carved from the wood, to be worn on muddy trails.  The wax [resin] is burned in the houses to drive away insects and when freshly made serves as an all-purpose solder or glue. 

This is used to mend leaks in all non-cooking containers, to plug the mouth end of flutes, to tip drum sticks, to glue wood especially in the manufacture of the TUN drum, fiddles, and guitars, and for glueing the leather straps to tool handles.  It is burned in incense burners at nearly all the religious ceremonies, and the Catholic churches of the area are said to use it exclusively.
 

History

Copal is the name given to the aromatic resin derived from the sap or “blood” of certain trees from the Torchwood family that hardens when in contact with the air. 

A process of tree selection is done by “copaleros” or experts on discriminating whether the tree is robust and healthy enough for it to flow well throughout the harvesting season. 

 Traditionally, cuts are done on the bark of the copal tree and a maguey stalk is placed underneath to receive the resin that will turn into the aromatic, sacred incense. 

The uses of copal in ancient Mexico and amongst native cultures nowadays can be divided into four functions: adivinatory, preventive, therapeutic, and divine offerings. 

The Otomi people “read” the copal’s smoke with the aid of a candle to diagnose disease; copal smudging is one of the most common preventive and therapeutic practices in traditional medicine; 

the Lacandon people craft receptacles dedicated to a particular god(des) in which copal is burned, thus “feeding” the divine abode of such deities. 

Copal’s importance was such that not only survived the arrival of the Spaniards but was adopted by them, becoming a common element in Church services.

Links

http://maya-archaeology.org/pre-Columbian_Mesoamerican_Mayan_ethnobotany_Mayan_iconography_archaeology_anthropology_research/copal_pom_Maya_incense_religious_ceremonies.php

https://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/copal.htm

http://teomatisacredcopal.com/copals-history/

Travel Videos Mexico

Sacred Mayan Tree - Kapok, Ceiba Tree Medicinal Uses for Stomach Pain and Headache Relief

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 331-365

       

Kapok, Ceiba Tree: Yaaxche (Maya)  Ceiba pentandra,  is the most Sacred Tree to the Maya,  (flowers photo) belongs to the Bombacaceae family. Ceiba trees or Kapok trees produce a cotton like fiber from its fruits, called by the Maya people "pochote," a highly valuable fiber for clothing since pre-Hispanic times. 
 
Commonly referred in Yucatan as la Ceiba, the huge trees give their first crop of pochote after seven years.  

Even today, Maya people honor the Ya'axche or Ceiba Tree as an energy connection with the Cosmos, Earth, and the Underworld; ever present in ceremonies and as a medicine plant, this beautiful tree is were the Maya Gods abide, and so do may forest supernatural creatures and energies. Young Ceiba trees have exotic looking thorny green trunks,

The unmistakable thick conical thorns in clusters on the trunk were reproduced by the southern lowland Maya of the Classical Period on cylindrical ceramic burial urns or incense holders.

Ceiba Around the World
 
The Maya civilization believed, Yaaxché, a concept of the central world tree is often depicted as a Ceiba trunk, which connects the planes of the Underworld (Xibalba), the terrestrial realm and the skies.

The tree figures an important part in the mythologies of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. For example several Amazonian tribes of eastern Peru believe deities live in Ceiba tree species throughout the jungle. 

Ceiba is also the national tree of Guatemala. The most important Ceiba in Guatemala is known as La Ceiba de Palín Escuintla which is over 400 years old. 
 
In Caracas, Venezuela there is a 100 year old ceiba tree in front of the San Francisco Church knownas La Ceiba de San Francisco and is an important element in the history of the city.

The Ceiba tree seed is used to extract oils used to make soap and fertilizers. The Ceiba is continued to be commercialized in Asia especially in Java, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines.
 

Habitat: 

The kapok tree is found throughout the Neotropics, from southern Mexico to the southern Amazon and even to parts of West Africa. Because the unopened fruit won't sink when submerged in water, many believe the fruit of the kapok tree floated its way from Latin America to Africa.

Flowers

Ceiba flowers open in the evening and are pollinated by pollen- and nectar-feeding bats. Their kapok-surrounded seeds are adapted for dispersal by wind.  Ceiba trees may flower as little as once every 5 years, especially in wetter forests. 

Flowering is more frequent on forest edges or in drier sites.   The trees lose their leaves in the dry season, a conditioned termed "drought-deciduousness".   

 Flowering and fruiting takes place when the tree is leafless and this is believed to be an adaptation that facilitates both mammal-pollination and wind-dispersal. Dispersal by water may also occur; the fruits float indefinitely owing to the water-repellant kapok fibers.  
 
This may explain how Ceiba reached Africa from South America where the genus is believed to have originated.

Reforestation with Ceiba Tree

Ceiba trees grow fast in high light conditions and thus acts as a "pioneers", colonizing cleared areas if a seed source is nearby.  Many are adapted to dry conditions and are able to store water in the cortical cells of their trunk.  At times this gives the trunk a swollen or bulging appearance. 

A Ceiba tree is the focal point for a complex ecological community living out its existence high in the forest canopy!

Holistic Uses

Since the Spaniards burned almost all Mayan books and codices, J-Men and Mayan healers have little written records of their medicinal methods; today, few books by western writers have recorded some of the important Mayan ethno-medicine healing traditions, medicine plants, remedies, cures, and holistic practices. Mayan healers use Mayan holistic rituals and healing ceremonies with prayer, divination, ethno-medicine traditions, and guidance from their spiritual guardians that communicate through dreams and their holy Sas'tun (quartz) holistic messages to cure, purify, or cleanse a person.   

Mithology

The value of the Ceiba goes far beyond Mayan mysticism: Few know about its diverse uses
– Iris Ceballos Alvarado.
It’s said that the yaxché or ceiba holds the three levels of Mayan cosmology together: Cab, Kaán, and Xibalbá.
And it’s thought that there is a connection between humans and the ceiba, like a mother gives life, in that if the tree dies, the human also perishes.

According to Mayan mythology, 122 deities live in the yaxché, divided into two groups: 13 Oxlahunti
kú and nine Bolontikú.

Itzamná was the white, bearded god, son of Hunab Ku, who preached monotheism and was named as the chief of the Mayan pantheon in the group Oxlahuntikú, who inhabited the branches of the ceiba.

The nine gods of the underworld, the Bolontikú, lived in the depths of its roots.

Thus the branches of the sacred tree cross the 13 celestial planes and its roots sink into the underworld, where there are nine levels. 

The ceiba also represents the four cardinal points, called bacabes. In representations made of the ceiba it is not unusual that the lower part is swollen, like the belly of a pregnant woman. In the yaxché, or ceiba, the predecessors of the ancestral mayan culture reside, the gods and, it is said, some supernatural beings.

But there is much more than magic, mystery and religious meaning in the ceiba, since its bark and fruit can be used to construct packing boxes, to relieve headaches, stuff pillows, and make life jackets.
However, in Yucatán, there is little or no exploitation of the plant, which is viewed in its magic-religious character, not in a functional sense, in the point of the view of the technician Filogonia May Pat, a member of the ecology and systematic team of the natural resources unit of CICY (Centro de Investigación Cientifica de Yucatán).

He explains that in Yucatán the predominant species of ceiba is C. pentandra, of the bombacaceae family. This species can reach 40 meters in height, with a trunk diameter of three meters.


Medicinal Uses

• A tea to relief stomach pain can be made from the flower. 
• It also is used for female fertility, and 
• to stimulate maternal milk. 
• Among the other medicinal uses of the bark is relief of headache.

Trees found in Mexico - Orchid Tree Medicinal Uses for Cancer Prevention, Intestinal Worms, Diuretic, Regulate Blood Sugar

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 330-365 

Have you planted a tree this year? Have you done lately anything to prevent deforestation ? We need to leave the Earth in a better shape that we found it. Here is a idea for a tree - Orchid Tree

 

Orchid Tree (English) Arbol de las Orquídeas is Bauhinia variegata, a native of India and China and a member of the enormous Fabaceae (Bean) Family. The showy, fragrant flowers, 3-4 inches across (7-10 cm) bear 5 or 6 upward-arching stamens. At first the blossoms are white with a dark pink central spot, but with age flowers turn into deep shades of magenta, lavender or purplish blue. 
 
At Hacienda Chichen the Orchid-Tree blooms at the end of the rainy season (late fall) and eventually is laden with flattish seed pods, foot-long legumes. Note the unusual leaf shape, which reminds some people of a  cow foot indented on both ends, and others of butterflies with rounded wings. Flowers are edible in salads
 
Other Names 


Butterfly Tree, Mountain Ebony, Geranium Tree, Purple Bauhinia Bauhinia purpurea, Kachnar

 
Description

Appearance: Semi-deciduous tree to 15 m (50 ft) tall, with a spreading crown.
Leaves: Alternate, long petioled, to 3 cm (1.25 in) long, thin-leathery, simple but deeply cleft at apex, forming 2 large rounded lobes; lower surfaces downy, especially at top of petiole; blades with 11–13 veins extending from heart-shaped or rounded base.
Flowers: Showy, fragrant, in few-flowered clusters near stem tips; 5 petals, clawed, overlapping, pale magenta to indigo (occasionally white), with dark red and yellow also on upper petal; 5 stamens (rarely 6).
Fruit: A flat, oblong pod, to 30 cm (1ft) long, 10–15-seeded.
 

History

This plant is grouped into the Leguminosae and subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The genus contains about 300 species spread around the world in tropical and subtropical climates. Its name honors two brothers, John and Caspar Bauhin, noted 16th century European herbalists. The species is native to a huge range from India to the Malay Peninsula. This is one parent species of the Hong Kong Orchid Tree.

Lore

Long flat seed pods that follow the seeds is key to its place in the pea family.

Medicinal Uses

 

In the Ayurvedic texts, sushruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita, many therapeutic properties have been ascribed to kachnar.
Kachnar is believed to pacify the 3 doshas of Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
Some of the benefits of extracts of the orchid tree that studies have revealed are :

• Regulate blood sugar. The protein present in the leaves have insulin like activity.
• Protect the kidneys against toxicity and damage due to accumulation of toxic chemicals.
• Protect the liver. Extracts of kachnar protect the liver against carbon tetrachloride toxicity.
• Heal intestinal ulcers by decreasing the output of gastric acids.
• Control the formation of tumors and also possess cancer preventing properties.
• Heal wounds faster when compared to a control group.
• Has tonic and restorative properties.
• Relieve diarrhea and remove intestinal worms.
• Act as a diuretic.
• Have anti inflammatory and anti microbial properties.
• Decoction of kachnar bark is useful in alleviating skin diseases.  
• has been used to treat leprosy.
• Kachnar has the capacity to purify the air by cleaning up the atmospheric and soil pollution. The roots have nitrogen fixing properties.
• The flowers and buds are useful in flatulence and joint pains.
• A decoction made from the root of the kachnar is said to prevent people becoming obese. 
• An infusion of the flower buds is good to get rid of coughs.

Some Ayurvedic Remedies With Kachnar

• For Mouth Ulcers & Bad Breath

Take dried bark pf kachnar and pound it coarsely. To 10 grams of this add 400 ml water. Let it come to a boil and then simmer till about 100 ml of water remains.
Remove from heat, cool a bit and filter the water. Gargle with this water while still warm. Do this 2 to 3 times daily. This is a very effective remedy for mouth ulcers and works even where other medications have failed to provide relief.

• For Diarrhea And Intestinal Mucus

Powder the bark. Take 3 grams of this powder with water twice a day; once in the morning and again in the evening.

• For Difficulty In Urination

Remove the seeds from the long pod like fruit. Powder the seeds. Take 1 gram of this seed powder twice a day, in the morning and evening, with water. It relieves problems in urination.

• For Liver Problems And Jaundice

Extract juice from kachnar leaves. Drink 2 times a day. Dose adults 50 ml and children 15 ml.
This juice improves the liver function and reduces enlargement of the liver.

• For Thyroid Problems And Tonsils

Pound about 20 grams of kachnar bark and add 200 ml of water to it. Boil and then simmer the water till it reduces to 50 ml.
Strain and drink.

• To Improve Appetite

Drink juice of kachnar leaves.

• For Tumors, Cysts & Fibroids

Boil 5 grams of dry bark or 10 grams of fresh bark in 400 ml of water till the water is reduced to 100 ml. Strain and drink.

Plant and Care 

Orchid tree culture is fairly straightforward. Growing orchid trees thrive in full sun and do well in bright shade. They must have well drained soil and when planting an orchid tree, care should be taken to place it outside the reach of a sprinkler system.

Orchid trees, once established, can withstand drought conditions, but cannot tolerate temperatures below 15°F (-9°C).

Links

• http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2325/  
• http://saorchard.co.za/tree-care/planting-trees/
• http://www.jyoungpharm.in/article.asp?issn=0975-1483;year=2009;volume=1;issue=1;spage=36;epage=41;aulast=Golwala;type=0

• http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/124499
• http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/3/1_MeetingAbstracts/A64
• http://www.indexscholar.com/?record=1138749
• http://www.greenpharmacy.info/article.asp?issn=0973-8258;year=2009;volume=3;issue=1;spage=70;epage=74;aulast=Ghaisas
• http://www.ijppsjournal.com/Vol5Suppl2/6808.pdf
• http://www.japtr.org/article.asp?issn=2231-4040;year=2011;volume=2;issue=2;spage=132;epage=134;aulast=Mali;type=0
• http://www.ijp-online.com/article.asp?issn=0253-7613;year=2009;volume=41;issue=5;spage=227;epage=232;aulast=Rajani
• http://www.academia.edu/3442043/Phytochemical_screening_and_antimicrobial_activity_of_Bauhinia_variegata_Linn
• http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=rjphyto.2011.89.97&org=10
• http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.ca/2010/07/kachnar-or-orchid-treeexotic-spring.html
• http://www.researchgate.net/publication/221705120_Spectrum_of_Pharmacological_Activities_from_Bauhinia_variegata_A_Review

Mexican Trees Royal Poinciana, Trees Nitrogen Fixing Tree Medicinal Used for Diabetis

By Liliana Usvat    
Blog 328-365

Have you planted any tree this year? Here is one suggestion. 

Royal Poinciana Trees (English) Flamboyan Real (Spanish) Poinciana regia, Caesalpiniaceae Family. Endemic to Madagascar. It grows wild in Yucatan, Mexico after its introduction in the late 19th Century.  In Yucatan, these beautiful flowering trees became favorite ornamental trees to grow near Mayan huts, villages, urban avenues and parks.  Its orchid shaped deep orange-red flowers are truly exquisite, one petal is different from the rest with light tone and deep shades of orange magenta spot; flowers grow in clusters, blooms in May and summer the Flamboyan trees are fully covered with flowers without their pinnae leaflets (foliage). Flamboyan seeds grow in large "machete like" hard pods.

Reforestation
 
Though they are considered legumes, the seeds are not edible and usually only are used for propagation purposes. This ornamental tree is sometimes used to improve soil properties due to its nitrogen fixation abilities.

The Royal Poinciana is most commonly propagated by seeds. Seeds are collected, soaked in warm water for at least 24 hours, and planted in warm, moist soil in a semi-shaded, sheltered position. In lieu of soaking, the seeds can also be 'nicked' or 'pinched' (with a small scissors or nail clipper) and planted immediately. These two methods allow moisture to penetrate the tough outer casing, stimulating germination. The seedlings grow rapidly and can reach 30 cm in a few weeks under ideal conditions.

Less common, but just as effective, is propagation by semi-hardwood cuttings. Branches consisting of the current or last season's growth can be cut into 30 cm sections and planted in a moist potting mixture. This method is slower than seed propagation (cuttings take a few months to root) but is the preferred method for ensuring new trees are true to form. As such, cuttings are a particularly common method of propagation for the rarer yellow-flowering variety of the tree.
 
The Royal Poinciana requires a tropical or near-tropical climate, but can tolerate drought and salty conditions. The Poinciana prefers an open, free-draining sandy or loamy soil enriched with organic matter. The tree does not like heavy or clay soils and flowers more profusely when kept slightly dry.

Aside from its ornamental value, this garden tree is also used for its dense foliage and modest height that can provide ample shade. The leaves of the royal poinciana are pinnate, meaning they are divided like a feather, and measure about 1 to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 m) in length. Each leaf is composed of 20 to 40 pairs of primary leaflets that are further divided into 10 to 20 pairs of secondary leaflets. These compound leaves are bright green and very lightweight. 
 
The flowers of the royal poinciana are large and normally a shade of yellow, orange, or bright red. Each flower has four spreading petals that measure up to 3 inches (about 8 cm) in length and a fifth petal called the standard that is upright and a little bigger than the other petals. The standard is distinctive because of its white and yellow spots. Another common name of the royal poinciana is peacock flower because the physical appearance of the flowers is similar to that of a peacock with its feathers up. 

Stories

In the Indian state of Kerala, Royal Poinciana is called Kaalvarippoo which means the flower of Calvary. There is a popular belief among Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala that when Jesus was crucified, there was a small Royal Poinciana tree nearby his Cross. It is believed that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed over the flowers of the tree and this is how the flowers of Royal Poinciana got a sharp red color 

Medicinal Uses
 

• In Bangladesh folk medicine, used for the treatment of diabetes.
  Antimicrobial, 
• antioxidant, 
• hepatoprotective, 
• anti-inflammatory.

The plant has several medicinal uses like it is used to treat 

• constipation,
•  inflammations, 
• arthritis and 
• hemiplagia.

According to the Web site http://www.silentdoctors.com, the plant can be used against malaria, as an anti-inflammatory, an antimicrobial, against staph infections, asthma and is said to kill cancer cells. Around the turn of the 19th century, the flowers and leaves were made into a tea to be given to babies before they went to bed, the site also says. It also is reputed to have been used to treat asthma and bronchitis.


 Studies
• Antibacterial: Delonix regia was one of 12 medicinal plants studied for antibacterial activity. The methanol extracts showed more activity than the aqueous extracts for all 12 plants studied. The most susceptible bacterial were S. subtilis, followed by S. epidermis. 
 • Anti-Inflammatory: Study evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of leaves using a carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and cotton pellet granuloma models. Results showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in both models. 
  • Flowers Constituents / Phenols and Flavonoids: Study was done to estimate the total phenolic and flavonoidal content of the flowers. Results showed the flowers to contain significant amounts of phenols and flavonoids, with the total phenolic content to be much higher than the flavonoidal content. 
 • Hepatoprotective / Cytotoxic: Study of an ethanolic extract isolated three sterols (stigmasterol, ß-sitosterol, and its 3-O-gucoside), a triterpene (ursolic acid) and four flavonoids (quercetin, quercitrin, isoquercitrin, and rutin), plus an amino acid. Results showed cytotoxic activity against human liver cancer cell line (HEPG2). It also showed hepatoprotective activity against CCl4-induced hepatic damage, attributed to the free radical scavenging property of the flavonoids.  
• Antimicrobial: In antimicrobial screening, a dichlormethane soluble fraction of a methanolic extract showed strong inhibition of S. paratyphi growth, with moderate inhibition of S. typhi, S. aureus and S. dysenteriae. Other fractions showed inhibition of C. albicans, S. cerevisiae.
  • Antidiarrheal: Evaluation of ethanolic extract of D. regia for in vivo anti-diarrheal activity in experimentally induced diarrhea, prostaglandin E2-induced enteropooling and charcoal-induced motility test in rats showed dose-dependent antidiarrheal properties. 
  • Seed Mucilage / Tablet Binder: Seeds of plant contain glucomannose. Mucilage obtained from the seeds were used in the preparation of calcium carbonate tablets. Results showed the endospermic mucilage obtained from the seeds possesses comparable binding properties.
  • Wound Healing / Flowers: Study investigated the wound healing properties of Delonix regia in experimental models in albino rats using incision and excision wound models. Results showed ethanolic and aqueous extracts of flowers significant promoted the healing process, as evidenced by increase in wound breaking strength, percentage of wound contractions, increased hydroxyproline content and decreased epithelialisation period.
  • Antidiabetic: Study evaluated a methanol extract of leaf for glucose tolerance efficacy in glucose-induced hyperglycemic mice. Results showed significant hypoglycemic effect on glucose-loaded mice at every dose.  
• Hepatoprotective / Anticancer / Antioxidant: On cytotoxicity testing, D. regia extract showed potent anticancer effect against HepG2 cell line. It also showed dose-dependent hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities attributed to the flavonoids content. (See constituents above)
  • Mercury Adsorption/ Anticancer / Antioxidant: Study evaluated the feasibility of using pods of Delonix regia activated carbon or the removal of Hg from water by absorption. Results showed a suitable indigenous active carbon as an adsorbent for the removal of Hg from aqueous solution.  
• In Vitro Cytotoxic Activity / Flowers / Cancer Cell Lines: Study for in vitro cytotoxic effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of D. regia flowers showed anticancer effects against different cell lines (MCF-7 [breast], carcinoma of cervix HeLa cells, carcinoma of the brain, and carcinoma of colon). • Antibacterial / Root Bark: A methanol extract of root bark of Delonix regia showed efficacy against all test bacteria (Gram negative E. coli, P. aeruginosa and Gram positive S. aureus, Strep pneumonia and B. subtilis). (see constituents above)  
• Antinociceptive / Cytotoxic / Leaves: Study investigated the antinociceptive and cytotoxic effects of alcoholic extract of leaves in Swiss albino rats. Results showed an analgesic effect which me be peripherally mediated via inhibition of synthesis and release of PGs and other endogenous substances. Results also showed cytotoxic activity by brine shrimp lethality assay. 
  • Diuretic / Flowers: Study evaluated the diuretic activity of a methanol flower extract of Gul Mohr in Albino rat model. Results showed significant diuretic activity, with increased urine volume and electrolyte excretion when compared to control.  
• Corrosion Inhibitor / Aluminum: Study evaluated the inhibitive effect of D. regia extracts in reducing the corrosion rate of aluminum in acidic medium. Results showed D. regia extracts inhibited the corrosion of aluminum in HCl solutions. 
  • Methylene Blue Biosorbent: Dyestuffs are prominent organic pollutants that industry use and discharge into surface and subsurface water bodies. Study showed Delonix regia pod to be a very effective biosorbent in the removal of methylene blue dye from waste waters. 
  • Removal of Copper, Cobalt and Lead / Flowers: Study evaluated the ability of Delonix regia flowers to remove Co, Cu, and Pb ions through biosorption. Study showed D. regia flower is a viable agricultural waste for the removal of Co, Cu and Pb ions. The main adsorption mechanism was possibly a chemisorption reaction.
  • Antibacterial / Leaf and Seeds: Study evaluated various extracts of leaf and seed of Delonix regia and A. aspera against five bacterial strains. The chloroform seed extract of D regia and ethanol seed extract of A aspera showed high inhibitory zone against E. coli than other bacterial strains. 
  • Antibacterial / Leaf and Seeds: Synthetic chemicals—methyl orange, phenolphthalein, phenol red, etc.—used as internal indicators in acid-base titrations are hazardous chemicals. Study evaluated Delonix regia for use as a natural indicator. Results showed D. regia flower petal can be used as a natural indicator, neither harmful to the environment nor causing any health hazard, while also being economical, simple, pollution free and inert.  
• Larvicidal / Leaf and Seeds: A methanol extract of D. regia flowers were very effective against 3rd instar larvae of H. puera indicating a potential as bio-pesticide. 
 • Anthelmintic / Flowers: Fresh methanol and aqueous extracts of flowers of Delonix regia showed considerable anthelmintic activity against Pheretima posthuma. The methanol extract was more active. Piperazine citrate was used as reference drug.

Links

http://www.stuartxchange.com/FireTree.html
http://www.indianetzone.com/43/gulmohur_plant.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-royal-poinciana.htm