Description
A legume tree that grows to about 15–25 meters (50–80 ft) in height with a large canopy which spreads equally wide. It may be deciduous for short periods. The leaves are a soft, shiny burgundy in early summer and mature to a glossy, deep green as the season progresses. Flowering starts in general after 3–4 years. Cropping of pods and single almond sized seeds can occur by 4–6 years. Small clusters of white, purple, and pink flowers blossom on their branches throughout the year, maturing into brown seed pods.
Naturally distributed in tropical and temperate Asia, from India to Japan to Thailand to Malesia to north and north-eastern Australia to some Pacific islands; It has been propagated and distributed further around the world in humid and subtropical environments from sea-level to 1200m, although in the Himalayan foothills it is not found above 600m. Withstanding temperatures slightly below 0 °C (32 °F) and up to about 50 °C (120 °F) and annual rainfall of 500–2,500 mm (20–100 in), the tree grows wild on sandy and rocky soils, including oolitic limestone, and will grow in most soil types, even with its roots in salt water.
The tree is well suited to intense heat and sunlight and its dense network of lateral roots and its thick, long taproot make it drought-tolerant. The dense shade it provides slows the evaporation of surface water and its root nodules promote nitrogen fixation, a symbiotic process by which gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air is converted into ammonium (NH4+, a form of nitrogen available to the plant).
Specifically M. pinnata is an outbreeding diploid legume tree, with a haploid chromosome number of 11. Root nodules are of the determinate type (as those on soybean and common bean) formed by the causative bacterium Bradyrhizobium. The oil has a high content of triglycerides, and its disagreeable taste and odor are due to bitter flavonoid constituents including karanjin and karanjachromene.
Read more about this topic: Millettia Pinnata
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