DR V. RAMAKANTHA, retired forest officer, who raised a family and worked in forests for most of his adult life, returns to our pages in 2025 to share his vast knowledge of medicinal plants, and the fascinating stories associated with them. In his signature style, this month he weaves together science, folklore, and traditional knowledge to tell the story of the Devil’s Tree, Saptaparni.
Saptaparni is a large evergreen tree growing up to 120 feet. Palakkad, a town and district in the Indian state of Kerala, is believed to have been named after these trees—“pala” refers to Saptaparni and “kaadu” to forests. Saptaparni is also known as yakshi-paalya, meaning Devil’s Tree. Yaksha and Yakshi are nature spirits, generally considered benevolent celestial beings who visit Earth, but they also have a darker form of grotesque and terrible entities that can appear before people as the most beautiful and enchanting ladies.
In many parts of South India, a Yakshi is believed to make a home in a Saptaparni tree. If any male villager gradually loses weight and health, an affair with a Yakshi becomes the first suspicion in the minds of the elders.
A cautionary tale
According to folklore, a Brahmin had gone to a distant village on work. He was late returning, and the golden rays of the sun started disappearing from the horizon. Being far from home, and being afraid of the impending dark, he quickened his step. Then, to his surprise, he saw a maiden of extraordinary beauty wearing a white sari, her long hair adorned with the sweet-smelling flowers of Saptaparni.
To his greater surprise, she approached him and in a sweet voice told him that she was late returning from her companion’s home. As she was afraid of the dark, she pleaded with the Brahmin to accompany her home, just a short distance away.
Wonderstruck by her ethereal beauty, and enamored by her sweet voice, the Brahmin readily followed her to her spacious house on the edge of a river. By then it was dark. The beautiful lady made an offer to the Brahmin to stay with her for the night. Throwing caution to the wind, not even wondering why a beautiful lady was staying in an isolated house, the Brahmin agreed to stay with her and it indeed became a memorable night in his life.
From then on, he spent days and nights in her company, enjoying carnal pleasures. As the days passed, he became disinterested in life and cared not even to eat. Gradually, he became a bundle of bones, and ultimately died. As the story goes, the Yakshi is now on the lookout for other men in isolated places.
In the villages of India, youngsters are warned not to sleep under Saptaparni trees. Indeed, if a tree is in bloom, it is prudent not to sleep under its dense shade, as the copious minute pollen grains might cause health issues.
Botanical information
Saptaparni has a wide distribution in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, southern China, Papua New Guinea, and Queensland, Australia. The tree can be easily identified with its gray-brown bark, which exudes a milky latex when cut, and especially by its shiny leaves that are in whorls of four to eight, deceptively giving a spiral pattern.
The greenish white flowers are small, tightly packed in clusters, and highly fragrant. Fruits appear in pairs and look like spindly beans.
By Utpal Tijoriwala - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36221536
The common names of Saptaparni include Dita Bark Tree, Milkwood Pine, White Cheese Wood and Blackboard Tree. Placed in the family Apocyanaceae (Dogbane), the Latin name of Saptaparni is Alstonia scholaris. In the 1950s and ’60s, school children in India would trace letters on small rectangular slates (blackboards), the frames of which were made from the wood of Saptaparni, and hence the species name “scholaris.”
By © 2009 Jee & Rani Nature Photography (License: CC BY-SA 4.0), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10265828
Medicinal uses
In India, parts of the Saptaparni tree are used in the medicine of Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani, as well as non-codified drug systems, for the treatment of malaria, jaundice, gastrointestinal troubles, cancer, and other diseases. The medicinal importance of Saptaparni has been documented in Bhavaprakasha, a medicinal treatise authored by Acharya Bhavamishra. The bitter drug extracted from the bark is also used to treat a range of complaints from chronic diarrhea, dysentery, asthma, to fevers. Its milky latex is also used to treat sores and ulcers. The leaves of Saptaparni are used in the treatment of beriberi, dropsy, and liver congestion.
In China, the bark and leaves are used to treat headache, influenza, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Indigenous Australians use the bark for the treatment of abdominal pains and fevers.
Other Uses
The wood of Saptaparni is soft, light, and fine-textured, but is not very durable; it is sometimes used to make toys, minor furniture, and tea chests. It is also used for plywood and second-class match splints. The latex provides good quality chewing gum (Bhanupratap et al., 2013). The bark yields fiber, which, in this era of plastic, is not much in demand. A yellow dye obtained from the bark is used to dye cotton fabrics. The flowers yield an essential oil.
By J.M.Garg - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3483481
What does science know about Saptaparni?
Saptaparni has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide for its pharmacological profile ranging from antimalarial to anticancer activities. It is a valuable medicinal tree as it is rich in bioactive alkaloids. Over 70 different types of alkaloids have been reported in the root, bark, leaves, fruit and flowers. An un-crystallizable bitter principle, ditain, was isolated from Saptaparni and research findings validate its use in treating fever. Many of the scientific investigations conducted on animals corroborate antimicrobial, antidiarrheal, antiplasmodial, antiasthmatic, anticancer, hepatoprotective effects, and wound healing abilities.
By MargaretRDonald - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69758619
In coastal Karnataka and the Western Ghats, on the auspicious day of Ashadha Amavasya, the new moon in the month of July, a great ritual is associated with the Saptaparni tree. Customarily, the head of the family approaches a Saptaparni tree before dawn, seeks its permission to chop some pieces of bark, then heads home with the bark. The lady of the home makes a decoction of the bark and all the family members drink a few ounces. It has a terrible taste that some say is remembered for the whole year. This yearly ritual is believed to be insurance against malaria.
Interestingly, the Saptaparni bark is used in the commercial formulation “Ayush 64” produced by the National Research Development Corporation, Government of India in collaboration with M/s Dabur India Ltd., for the treatment of malaria.
This versatile tree is also given its due in Jainism. It is the sacred tree of the second Jain Tirthankar, Ajitnatha. And Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European Noble Laureate, elevated the status of the Saptaparni tree to that of an auspicious plant. In Viswa-Bharati, a Central University founded by him, he set a tradition wherein the leaves of Saptaparni are awarded to graduates and postgraduates by the chancellor, given to him in turn by the Prime Minister of India. In recent years, to prevent excessive damage to the Saptaparni trees, the vice-chancellor accepts one leaf of this tree from the chancellor of the university on behalf of all the students.
Despite great demand from the medicinal industry, Saptaparni is faring well across its habitats, and is assessed as a plant of Least Concern (IUCN 3.1). It is a fast-growing species and extremely resistant to pollution.
References
- Tomar, A., 2016. Geographical distribution of Alstonia scholaris R. Br. with its medicinal importance. International Journal of Botany Studies 1(3): 01-02.
- Khyadea, M.S. et al., 2014. Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. and Alstonia macrophylla Wall. ex G. Don: A Comparative Review on Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 153(1):1-18.
Dr. V. Ramakantha
