BATS AND THE BROKEN BONES TREE or THE MIDNIGHT HORROR TREE

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GOODNESS ME! WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THOSE SINISTER NAMES?

There is a less startling name as well; Indian Trumpet Flower.

This tree has a strange growth habit, so eye-catching that it is planted as an ornamental tree.

Leschenault's rousette; Broken Bones Tree pollinator

The odiferous night-blooming flowers that attract pollinating bats develops metre-long, curved, scimitar-like seedpods which are in themselves visually striking.

 

In addition, the long leaf and flower-bearing stalks eventually dry and fall from the tree. What looks like piles of broken bones accumulate under the tree.

Dawn bat; Broken Bones Tree pollinator

WHERE DO I HAVE TO TRAVEL TO MEET THIS PECULIAR TREE?

India to southern China to meet the tree in its native setting.

The tree has been well-known in these countries for many, many years. As with so many bat-pollinated/bat-planted trees, it is a medicine tree.

The tree is mentioned in the Ayurveda, a Hindu medical system that has been in existence for 2500 years. "Ayurveda" means "science of longevity".

WHAT PARTS OF THE TREE HAVE MEDICINAL POWERS?(1)

• Root bark
• Twigs
• Stems
• Leaves
• Flowers
• Fruit
• Seeds

THE WHOLE TREE. WHAT SORTS OF MALADIES CAN THE TREE PARTS TREAT?(1)

• Diarrhea
• Dysentery
• Rheumatism
• Arthritis
• Coughs
• Asthma
• Chest and throat congestion
• Fever
• Inflammation
• Intestinal worms
• Snake bite
• Leucoderma (loss of colour in the skin)

DO PEOPLE EAT ANY OF THE TREE PARTS?

People cook and eat young shoots, flowers, immature fruit and seeds.(2)

In the 1980's a study showed that people in Thailand, where these plant parts are eaten, develop cancer much less frequently than people in Northern Europe and North America.(3))

A scientific journal article published in May 2005 reported the anti-tumour potential of Broken Bone Tree seeds.(4)

SO EATING PARTS OF THE BROKEN BONE TREE COULD BE KEEPING PEOPLE IN THAILAND FROM DEVELOPING CANCER.

Yes, that is possible, along with other local plants that the people eat.

The Broken Bones Tree parts have some commercial uses also. As is often the case with powerful bat-plants, the bark of the tree and the seed pods are used in tanning hides and making dye.(2)

HAVE I EVER MET ANY BOTANICAL RELATIVES OF THIS TREE?

Yes, the amazing bat-pollinated sausage tree of Africa, and one day you will meet another relative, the bat-pollinated calabash tree.

You have met one of the bat pollinators of this tree before, the dawn bat. You met it pollinating durian flowers, mangrove flowers, petai flowers and banana flowers.

References:

(1) Biological Activities of Extracts and Two Flavonoids from Oroxylym indicum, Online Journal of Biological Sciences 3(3):371-375, 2003; http://www.ansinet.org/fulltext/jbs/jbs33371-375.pdf

(2)Fujita, M.S. 1991. Flying Fox (Chiroptera:Pteropodidae) Pollination, Seed Dispersal, and Economic Importance: A Tabular Summary of Current Knowledge, Resource Publication No. 2, Bat Conservation International

(3) Inventory of indigenous plants and minor crops in Thailand based on bioactivities, Nakahara, K. et al. 9th JIRCAS Symposium, 2002; http://ss.jircas.affrc.go.jp/kanko/sympo/sympo9/JIRCAS9-17.pdf

(4) Costa-Lotufo, L.V., Kahn, M.T.H., Ather, A., Wilke, D.V., Jiminez, P.C., Pessoa, C., de Moraes, M.E.A., de Moraes, M.O., Studies of the anticancer potential of plants used in Bangladeshi folk medicine, J. Ethnopharmacology, 13:99(1):21-30, May 2005