Adenanthera pavonina

Systematic Classification:

Division   : Angiospermae 
Class      : Dicotyledons
Order      : Fabales
Family     : Fabaceae
Genus      : Adenanthera
Species    : pavonina

Common Name:

Red Lucky Seed, Manjadi

General Information:

Adenanthera pavonina is a perennial and non-climbing species of leguminous tree. Red Bead Tree is a timber tree. This plant is found in the wild in India. Leaves are compound bipinnate, green when young, turning yellow when old. The small, yellowish flower grows in dense drooping rat-tail flower heads, almost like cat-tail flower-heads. Fruits are curved, hanging, green pods that turn brown, coil up and split open as they ripen to reveal small bright red seeds.These attractive seeds have been used as beads in jewellery, leis and rosaries. They were also used in ancient India for weighing gold. The seeds are curiously similar in weight. Four seeds make up about one gramme. Children love the hard red seeds and few can resist collecting the brightly coloured seeds usually littered under the tree. The young leaves can be cooked and eaten. the wood is extremely hard and used in boat-building and making furniture.

Economic Importance:

• This tree is useful for nitrogen fixation, and it is often cultivated for forage, as an ornamental garden plant or urban tree, and as a medicinal plant. For example, the young leaves can be cooked and eaten. The raw seeds are toxic, but may be eaten when cooked.
• The beauty of the seeds has led to them being used as beads for jewellery.
• The tree is fast-growing, with an attractive, spreading canopy that makes it suitable as a shade tree, and for ornamental purposes in large gardens or parks.
• In traditional medicine, a decoction of the young leaves and bark of Adenanthera pavonina is used to treat diarrhoea. Also, the ground seeds are used to treat inflammation.