On Saga Tree & Seeds
On Saga Tree & Seeds
Saga, or Adenanthera Pavonina is also called Red Lucky Seed, Acacia Coral, Arbre À Église, Bead Tree, Circassian Seed, Corail Végétal, Coral Wood, Coralitos, Curly Bean, Deleite, Delicia, Dilmawi, Graine-réglisse, Jumbi-Bead, L'Église, Peronías, Peonía, Peonía Extranjera, Piriquiti, Red Bead Tree, Réglisse, Barbados pride, Peacock flower fence, Sandalwood tree, and Manchadi.
The trees are abundant in Kerala, and also can be found in Tamil Nadu, Maldives, Tulu, Sri Lanka (India), China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and other parts of South Asia. One famous saga tree in Singapore is known as Heritage Tree as it is well over 100 years old and it is found in Singapore Botanical Gardens.
In the America, saga trees can be found in Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Tobago, Venezuela and in Florida, United States.
In China, saga seeds in Mandarin are known as "xiang si dou" (Chinese: 相思豆), or "mutual love bean" and are used as a symbol of love. The rich red colour of the seeds resembles a heart and the organic gem similar to the fine precious coral and the rich red carnelian gemstones. The seeds besides being bright red, and heart-shaped, are also hard. Saga seeds for a long time have been used as beads for jewellery.
The Malay word Saga comes from the Arab word for 'Goldsmith.' Because saga seeds have a uniform weight, in ancient India they were used as a weight measurement for gold and silver: 4 seeds = 1g.
The seeds are contained within curved hanging pods that are split open into two spiraling halves revealing the vivid red, glossy and heart-shaped beads. The seed pods also open while still on the branch, releasing their seeds on the ground.
The young leaves and bark of Adenanthera pavonina are used in Traditional Medicine to treat diarrhea, and the ground seeds are used to treat inflammation. Further uses include food and drink, for making soap, and a red dye can be obtained from the wood which in India is pound into powder. A red dye is obtained from the wood and used by the Brahmins to make religious markings on their foreheads. The wood, which is extremely hard, is also used in boat-building, furniture and for firewood.
The flowers of the saga tree smell a bit like orange blossoms. The petals are lovely yellow almost orange. The yound seed pods are long curved and green, but when they split open they are black in colour.
Saga, or Adenanthera Pavonina is also called Red Lucky Seed, Acacia Coral, Arbre À Église, Bead Tree, Circassian Seed, Corail Végétal, Coral Wood, Coralitos, Curly Bean, Deleite, Delicia, Dilmawi, Graine-réglisse, Jumbi-Bead, L'Église, Peronías, Peonía, Peonía Extranjera, Piriquiti, Red Bead Tree, Réglisse, Barbados pride, Peacock flower fence, Sandalwood tree, and Manchadi.
The trees are abundant in Kerala, and also can be found in Tamil Nadu, Maldives, Tulu, Sri Lanka (India), China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and other parts of South Asia. One famous saga tree in Singapore is known as Heritage Tree as it is well over 100 years old and it is found in Singapore Botanical Gardens.
In the America, saga trees can be found in Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Tobago, Venezuela and in Florida, United States.
In China, saga seeds in Mandarin are known as "xiang si dou" (Chinese: 相思豆), or "mutual love bean" and are used as a symbol of love. The rich red colour of the seeds resembles a heart and the organic gem similar to the fine precious coral and the rich red carnelian gemstones. The seeds besides being bright red, and heart-shaped, are also hard. Saga seeds for a long time have been used as beads for jewellery.
The Malay word Saga comes from the Arab word for 'Goldsmith.' Because saga seeds have a uniform weight, in ancient India they were used as a weight measurement for gold and silver: 4 seeds = 1g.
The seeds are contained within curved hanging pods that are split open into two spiraling halves revealing the vivid red, glossy and heart-shaped beads. The seed pods also open while still on the branch, releasing their seeds on the ground.
The young leaves and bark of Adenanthera pavonina are used in Traditional Medicine to treat diarrhea, and the ground seeds are used to treat inflammation. Further uses include food and drink, for making soap, and a red dye can be obtained from the wood which in India is pound into powder. A red dye is obtained from the wood and used by the Brahmins to make religious markings on their foreheads. The wood, which is extremely hard, is also used in boat-building, furniture and for firewood.
The flowers of the saga tree smell a bit like orange blossoms. The petals are lovely yellow almost orange. The yound seed pods are long curved and green, but when they split open they are black in colour.