Adenanthera Pavonina 10 Seeds, Red Sandalwood, Jewelry Beads and Saga Coral Tree

Adenanthera Pavonina
Also known as: Red Sandalwood, Saga Seed, Coral Tree

This is a large fast growing timber tree that can be found growing wild in India, and it can grow up to 20+ meters tall. It has been widely introduced in warm temperament regions. It is well known for its many uses and its ability to fix nitrogen and thus help rejuvenate soils.

Overall a beautiful perennial, deciduous tree of the legume family (Fabaceae). After the leaf-fall, flowers appear on long stalks (8-12cm) from the ends of the new shoots. These are faintly scented like orange blossoms. The petals are cream-yellow turning dull orange. The pods are long (15-20cm), curved and green, but don't coil until they begin to split whereupon they also turn blackish. Bright red seeds will litter the ground and children are often attracted to them. These attractive seeds have been used as beads in jewelry, 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 gram. The ground seeds are used to treat boils and inflammation, as well as an industrial lubricant oil.

As a food source the young leaves can be cooked and eaten. They are also used to supplement animal fodder, or mulched to fertilize crops. The raw seeds are toxic and may cause intoxication, however they are roasted and boiled in many cultures to be served with different dishes. It is said they taste like soy beans, are rich in oil and proteins, and can easily be digested by both humans and livestock.

Other medicinal uses include a red powder made from the wood is used as an antiseptic paste, and the leaves are used to treat gout and rheumatism. The bark is used to wash hair. 

The hard, reddish wood is used to make cabinets, boats, and furniture often in place of true sandalwood. With exposure to light, the wood slowly turns purplish-red. It is also valued as firewood as it burns well. The tree resprouts new branches easily and so is not damaged by harvesting for firewood. A red dye is obtained from the wood and used by the Brahmins to make religious markings on their foreheads.
USDA zone 9b-11

This offer is for 10 seeds.