An overview for various aspects of multifaceted, health care Tecomella undulata Seem. plant.

In India, family Bignoniaceae is represented by 21 genera and about 25 species including the non indigenous ornamental plants. The genera of Tecomella are a monotypic genus shrub/tree of the arid zone region in India. The natural stands of Tecomella undulata are restricted to the western parts and a few to southeastern parts of Pakistan. The species has been identified as an important for environmental conservation in arid zones as a stabilizer of shifting sand dunes, providing shelter for wildlife. It is also a very useful species for afforestation of the drier tracts due to its drought and fire resistant properties (1). It occurs on flat and undulating areas including gentle hill slopes and some times also ravines and thrives very well on stabilized sand dunes, which experience extreme low and high temperatures. It plays an important role in ecology; it acts as a soil binding tree by spreading a network of lateral root on the tops surface of the soil. It acts as a windbreak and helps in stabiling shifting sand dune. The tree is propagated from seeds and cutting and succeeds well in drained fibrous land (2). It is a common agroforestry tree species in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan for its higher survival rates even in extreme drought conditions (3). It has significant anticancer, hepatoprotective (4), analgesic (5) and antibacterial activity (6, 7). The bark contains tecomine, β-sitosterols, chromones glycosides, undulatosides, tecomellosides, tecosides lapachol, veratric acid etc. (8ñ10).