Botanical Name: Saraca asoca
Family: Caesalpiniaceae
Sanskrit Name: Ashoka, Hemapushpa, Tamrapallava, PindapUshpa, Gandhapushpa
English Name: Ashoka
Common Name: Asok, Asoka, Ashoka, Anganapriya
Parts Used: Stem bark, flower, Seed

Introduction:
Asoka or Ashoka is a Sanskrit word which means "without sorrow ", or which that gives no-grief. It is one of the most legendary and a sacred tree of India. The plant is prized for its beautiful foliage and flowers. Some of the local language describes it as tree of Love bosoms. The Hindu mythology describes it to be a sacred one and dedicated to Kamadeva, the God of Love. It is also said that Buddha was born under this tree, hence this tree is planted in all Buddhist monastery. Ashoka means, a reference to this bark's reputation for keeping a woman healthy and youthful; Buddha was said to be under this tree.

Plant Description:
Saraca asoka tree is a small evergreen tree, 6-8 m high.
Leaves: They are paripinnate; leaflets 4-6 pairs, oblong or oblong-lanceolate.
Flowers: They are orange or orange-yellow, eventually turning vermillion, fragrant, in dense auxiliary corymbs.
Pods: They are flat, linear-oblong, leathery, 10-25 cm long.
Seeds: Are 4-8, ellipsoid-oblong, compressed.

Distribution:
Saraca asoca tree occurs almost throughout India up-to an altitude of 750 m in the central and in the eastern Himalayas and Khasi, Garo and Lushai hills, wild in Chittagong, Bihar, Orissa, Konkan, Deccan, Mysore. It has become quite scarce in several localities and is reported to be threatened in North Eastern Region of India.

HISTORY AND REFERENCE FROM CLASSICAL AYURVEDIC TEXT:
The earliest chronicled mention is in the Ayurvedic treatise, the Charka Samhita (100 A.D.), in which Asoka is recommended in formulations for the management Pain with relation to Uterus (Gynecological) as Anodynes. The Bhavprakasha Nighantu, commonly known as the Indian Materia Medica (1500 A.D.), cites the plant as a Uterine tonic that is effective in regularizing the menstrual disorders.

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS:

• From Whole Plant: Glycosidic principles, non-phenolic, sapogenetic glycoside, sterols and aliphatic alcohols.

• From Bark: (-) epicatechin, procyanidin p2, 11'-deoxyprocyanidin B, (+) catechin, (24, £)- 24- methyl- cholesta-5-en-3p-ol (22 E, 21£)-24-ethycholesta-5, 22 dien-33-ol, (24 £)-24- ethylcholesta-5-en-3-p-ol, leucopelargonidin-3-O-p-D-glucoside, leucopelargonidin and leucocyanidin.

• From Flowers: oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids (seeds); P-sitosterol, quercetin, kaempferol- 3-0-P-D- glucoside, quercetin- 3-0-P-D-glucoside, apigenin- 7-0-p-D-glucoside, pelargonidin- 3, 5- diglucoside, cyanidin-3, 5- diglucoside, palmitic, stearic, linolenic, linoleic, p and y sitosterols, leucocyanidin and gallic acid.

• From Pods: catechol, (-) epicatechol and leucocyanidin
• From Wood: quercetin