Tree of the month Part 1 Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa)

Physical Properties

CEBU, Philippines - Banaba is a medium-sized tree which grows up to 30 meters in height and about 40 centimeters in diameter at breast height. The leaf base is almost rounded while the apex is acute or obtuse. The young leaves are dull reddish brown in color and very shiny. They start turn to yellow and reddish, though, before they fall. Each flower has six petals that are sub-orbicular and tapering toward the slender claw. Its fruits are woody, globose, glabrous, about two to 3.5 centimeters long, and have a persistent, re-curved calyx with glabrous lobes. Pollination is by way of large bees. Seeds are dispersed by wind.

Location

Banaba is widely distributed in the Philippines. It can be found in the Batan Islands, Northern Luzon, Palawan, and Mindanao. Specifically, it can be found along riverbanks, swamps, and in moist forests of alluvium soil in secondary forests at low and medium altitudes.

Uses

Due to the tree’s dense and wide spreading root system, Banaba is used for erosion control. The tree has been used in reforestation of degraded hills in Java. It is cultivated for ornamental purposes and as a roadside tree. The tree is used as a support for rattan. The banaba wood has a beautiful straight grain and is excellent material for cabinets, picture frames and articles of furniture in general.

Traditionally, banaba is a popular medicinal plant. Its dried bark and dried leaves are used for the preparation of medicinal tea against kidney trouble. Extracts obtained from boiling its bark is used as a drink to induce alertness, reduce fever and to cure abdominal pains.

Bark soaked in water can be taken to stop diarrhea. The bark leaves and flowers are used to induce bowel movements or loosen the stool. Old leaves and ripe/dried fruit, taken like tea, reduce blood sugar.

Leaves boiled in water are taken to clear obstructions from the natural ducts of the body and induce urination. Extracts from boiling the roots are used against small ulcers of the mouth. A leaf poultice is used to relieve malarial fever and applied on cracked feet.

Propagation

The tree can be propagated by seed. Branch and root cuttings have been used occasionally and tissue culture has been successful on an experimental scale. Stumps with a shoot length of 5-10 centimeters, a root length of 10-20 centimeters and a diameter of 5-25 millimeters have shown a 90 to 100 percent survival.

How to plant your banaba seedling

Clear the area where you want to plant your seedling with unwanted weeds and debris. Make sure that a one-meter radius is kept free from other vegetation. Dig a plant hole with dimensions of at least 20cm x 20cm x 20cm. Plant the seedling at proper depth. Root collar should be at level with or a little below the ground surface with the seedling oriented upward. Fill the hole with top or garden soil and press soil firmly around the base of the seedling. In plantation-making, seedlings should maintain a two-meter distance between seedlings if planted in a row of a three-meter distance from one strip to the next strip.

How to take care of your banaba seedling

Remove grass and other unwanted vegetation and cultivate the soil around the base of the seedling (50 cm radius) once in every quarter for two to three years. Place mulch around the base of the seedling (maintaining the 50 cm radius and using cut grass, leaves and other suitable materials as mulch base). Prune the branches at most 50 percent of the crown depth, preferably during dry season, and ensure that when pruning, you do not injure the bark. Remove infected or infested vegetation nearby to stop plant diseases from spreading and contaminating your seedling. Monitor regularly the growth of the seedling for presence of pests and diseases.

Data about native tree species are featured by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. For suggestions, email [email protected].