Paarijat / Harshringar

Description :

It grows as a shrub or a small tree up to 10 m. tall, with a gray or greenish, rough and flaky bark.  Leaves are simple, opposite, oval with pointed tips, 6–12 cm long and 2–6.5 cm broad, toothed at the edges and rough like sandpaper on the upper surface. The flowers are very sweet scented with waxy white, star-like petals and an orange-red tube in center which bloom in clusters. The flowers open at dusk and drop at dawn. The fruit is flat brown heart-shaped, 2 cm diameter and two seeded.   

Its botanical name is Nyctanthes arbortristis and it belongs to the Oleaceae i.e. Jasmine family.Nyctanthes arbortristis literally means, night-blooming sad tree. The tree is also called the "tree of sorrow", because the flowers drop from their branches in the morning.

                                              

Details :

Botanical Name :Nyctanthes arbortristis

English:Name : coral jasmine, night-flowering jasmine, night jasmine, queen of the night, sad tree, tree-of-sadness

Hindi Name : harsinghar, harshringar, parijata or paarijat or paarijaata, shefali or shephali, shephalika ,Haar, Harsingar

Bengali: Name : shefali ,Sheoli, Singhar, Shephalika

Konkani Name : parijatak

Manipuri Name : singarei

Marathi Name : paarijat

Portuguese Name : acafroeira, arvore da noite, arvore triste, nictanto

Sanskrit Name : parijat

Tamil Name : maramalli, pavala malli, pavazhamalli

Chinese Name : Nai hua, Hung mo li
French Name : Jasmin de nuit
Persian Name: Gulkamah
Latin name : Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn
Urdu Name : Harsinghar

Part Used : Flower

Medicinal Uses :

• The wood has been used to form a food batten base for tile or grass thatch roofs while the young branches are suitable for making baskets. 
• The bark of the tree is sometimes used as a tanning material and the leaves are used for polishing wood and ivory.
• The fresh leaves of the plant prepared in the form of juice, infusions or decoctions and in combination with other herbs are found to be useful in treating inflamations, sciatica, pruritis(itching) fever, bronchitis, asthma, cough, dyspepsia(difficulty with digestion associated with pain, flautulence, heartburn and nausea), constipation as the active principals contained within them are found to have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, digestive, expectorant, sudorific, diurectic and laxative properites.
• The leaves were also considered antidotal for reptile venom.Various preparations of the fresh flowers were found useful in treating diseases like colic, dyspepsia, flatulence, greyness of hair and balness as they wer astringent, stomachic, and carminative in nature.
• The bark when chewed with betelnut and leaf was eaten to promote expectoration of thick phlem. The seeds when powdered and prepared as a paste are used to cure scurvy and affections of the scalp.
• The leaves of Parijat tree are used as ayurvedic medicine for fever and icterus. The plant is not only useful for the medicinal purpose but is also useful for dyeing.

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