Millingtonia

{{Short description|Genus of trees}} {{Speciesbox | image = Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad, AP W2 IMG 1482.jpg | image_caption = | display_parents = 2 | genus = Millingtonia | parent_authority = L.f. | species = hortensis | authority = L.f. | synonyms = {{Plainlist | style = margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; | *''Bignonia azedarachta'' König & Sims *''Bignonia cicutaria'' K.D.Koenig ex Mart. *''Bignonia hortensis'' (L.f.) Oken *''Bignonia suberosa'' Roxb. *''Millingtonia dubiosa'' Span. *''Nevrilis suberosa'' Raf. nom. illeg. }} | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-317516 |title=The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species |access-date=2 December 2014}}</ref> }}

'''''Millingtonia hortensis''''', the '''tree jasmine''' or '''Indian cork tree''', is the sole species in the genus '''''Millingtonia''''',<ref name=flow>{{cite book|last=Lindley|first=John|title=The Treasury of Botany|year=1866|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|pages=[https://archive.org/details/treasurybotanya00lindgoog/page/n694 1260]|url=https://archive.org/details/treasurybotanya00lindgoog|quote=genus Millingtonia.|author2=Moore, Thomas|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> a tree native to South Asia and South East Asia.

In the name ''Millingtonia hortensis'', ''Millingtonia'' is named for Sir Thomas Millington who was an inspiration to Carl Linnaeus the Younger who first described the genus.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mems. Maxims, and Memoirs |last=Wad |first=William |year=1827 |publisher=Callow and Wilson |isbn=978-81-7017-335-9 |page=219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYzNhFGB_FgC&q=Sir%20Thomas%20Millington%20botanist&pg=PA219 |access-date=April 30, 2011}}</ref> The specific epithet 'hortensia' derives from 'hortensis' and 'hortus' which in Latin is related to the garden. In its synonym, ''Bignonia suberosa'', 'suberosa' derives from 'suberos' which means 'corky' in Latin.<ref name=name>{{cite book |title=Climate Responsive Architecture: A Design Handbook for Energy Efficient Buildings |last=Arvind |first=Krishan |year=2001 |publisher=Tata Mcgraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-463218-5 |page=399 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FiQnjYAEKwC&q=%22Millingtonia%20hortensis%22&pg=PA60 |access-date=April 30, 2011}}</ref>

Millingtonia Avenue in Lucknow is named after ''Millingtonia hortensis''.<ref>{{cite book|first=P. K. |last=Valsalakumari|title=Flowering Trees|year=2008|publisher=New India Pub. Agency|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-89422-50-9|pages=288|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3I9db7KQEh0C&q=%22Millingtonia%20hortensis%22&pg=PA54|access-date=30 April 2011}}</ref>

== Taxonomy == Genetic analysis suggests the closest relative of ''Millingtonia'' is the genus ''Oroxylum''; this pair of genera are then probably next most closely related to a clade containing ''Catalpa'' and ''Chilopsis''.<ref name="p246">{{cite journal | last=Olmstead | first=Richard G. | last2=Zjhra | first2=Michelle L. | last3=Lohmann | first3=Lúcia G. | last4=Grose | first4=Susan O. | last5=Eckert | first5=Andrew J. | title=A molecular phylogeny and classification of Bignoniaceae | journal=American Journal of Botany | volume=96 | issue=9 | date=2009 | issn=0002-9122 | doi=10.3732/ajb.0900004 | pages=1731–1743 | url=https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900004 | access-date=2025-06-23}}</ref>

==Description== The tree grows to a height of between 18 and 25 metres and has a spread of 7 to 11 metres. It reaches maturity between 6 and 8 years of age and lives for up to 40 years. It is a versatile tree which can grow in various soil types and climates with a preference for moist climates.<ref name=name/>Like Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, it blooms during the night and sheds during the morning. Its flowers emit a pleasant smell.

===Stem=== The tree is evergreen and has an elongated pyramidal stem. The soft, yellowish-white wood is brittle and can break under strong gusts of wind.<ref name=name/>

===Leaf=== The leaf is imparipinnate<ref name = flow/> and resembles that of the neem. Its leaves are prone to attack by ''Acherontia styx'' and ''Hyblaea puera''.<ref>{{cite book |title=General and Applied Entomology |last=Ananthakrishnan |first=T.N. |year=2004 |publisher=Tata Mcgraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-043435-6 |page=795 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHt-daXqZ-sC&q=%22Millingtonia%20hortensis%22&pg=PA795 |access-date=April 30, 2011}}</ref>

===Flower=== The white flowers are shaped like large panicles. They are bisexual and zygomorphic. The bell-shaped sepals of the flower have five small lobes. The flower has four stamens with parallel anthers unlike in most other plants of this family where the anthers are divergent. The corolla is a long tube with five lobes.<ref name = flow/>

===Fruit and seed=== The fruit is a smooth flat capsule and is partitioned into two. It contains broad-winged seeds.<ref name = flow/> The fruits are fed on by birds which aid in seed dispersal. In cultivation, the viability of seeds is low unless they are sown immediately after the fruit ripens, so the plant is generally propagated through cuttings.

==Uses== The tree is considered ornamental and the pleasant fragrance of the flowers renders it ideal as a garden tree. The wood is also used as timber and the bark is used as an inferior substitute for cork.<ref>{{cite book |title=Plant Taxonomy |last=Sharma |first=O.P. |year=1993 |publisher=Tata Mcgraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-460373-4 |page=353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWg76rCqA68C&q=Millingtonia%20distribution&pg=PA353 |access-date=April 30, 2011}}</ref> The leaves are also used as a cheap substitute for tobacco in cigarettes.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops|year=2001|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-540-41017-1|pages=3645|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10IMFSavIMsC&q=%22Millingtonia%20hortensis%22&pg=PA1907|access-date=30 April 2011}}</ref>

==Views of different aspects== <gallery> File:Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1483.jpg|In Hyderabad, India File:Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad W IMG 7057.jpg|In Hyderabad File:Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad W2 IMG 7056.jpg|In Hyderabad File:Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1482.jpg|In Hyderabad File:Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1481.jpg|In Hyderabad File:Millingtonia hortensis in Hyderabad W IMG 7056.jpg|In Hyderabad </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Bignoniaceae Category:Bignoniaceae genera Category:Monotypic Lamiales genera Category:Trees of China Category:Flora of tropical Asia