MAGNOLIA CHAMPACA

Common name: Champa, Golden Champa • Assamese: Tita-sopa • Bengali: চম্পা Champa • Gujarati: Sachochampo • Hindi: चम्पा Champa, सोन चम्पा Son champa • Kannada: Sampige • Konkani: Pudchampo • Manipuri: লৈহাও Leihao • Marathi: पिवळु चम्पा Pivalu Champa • Nepali: अैाले चाँप Aule chaanp • Oriya: Chompa • Sanskrit: चम्पकः Champaka • Tamil: Sambagan • Telugu: Champangi • Urdu: Champa

Botanical name:   Magnolia champaca   

Family: Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family)

Synonyms: Michelia champaca, Michelia rheedei, Champaca michelia

Geographical Distribution: M. champaca is native to temperate Himalayan region and is distributed throughout the subtropical and tropical countries such as India, South China, Indonesia, Philippines and some Pacific Islands. Including Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sumatra and in India, it is highly distributed in Eastern Himalayan tract and lower hills up to 3000 ft., Assam, Myanmar, Western Ghats, South India and Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar

Introduction: Champa is very well known flower native to the Himalayas, and popular for its fragrant flowers. It is a tree up to 50 m or taller, up to 1.9 m d.b.h. Flowers are fragrant, tepals 15-20, yellow, inverted-lanceshaped, 2-4 x 0.4-0.5 cm. Staminal connective is protruding and forming a long tip. Buds, young twigs, young petioles, and young leaf blades are pale yellow velvet-hairy. Twigs are ascending and forming a narrow umbelliform crown. Stipular scar 0.3-1 x as long as petiole. Leaf-stalks are 2-4 cm, leaves elliptic or ovate, 10-20 x 4.5-10 cm, slightly puberulous below, base broadly wedge-shaped or rounded, tip long-pointed tp falling off. Fruit is 7-15 cm; mature carpels obovoid-ellipsoid, 1-1.5 cm, tuberculate. Seeds 2-4 per carpel, rugose. Champa is found in the Himalayas, up to NE India and SE Asia, at altitudes of 600-1300 m. 

Chemical Constituents: Numerous active principles and secondary metabolites (Fig. 2) have been isolated from various parts of M. champaca. Phytochemical studies on stem bark shows the presence of triterpenoids, steroids, fatty acid 4 and other studies revealed the presence of sesqiterpene lactones, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and saponins in leaves, stems and roots of M. champaca. Michelia chmpaca reported to contain liriodenine, parthenolide and guainanolides. Volatile oil have been isolated from the leaves of M. champaca containing compounds like benzyl acetate, linalool, isoeugeno. Stem bark contains michampanolide, 8 - acetoxyparthenolide, magnograndiolide, costunolide, dihydroparthenolide, β-sitosterol, ushinsunine, magnoflorine and micheliolide from root bark.

Medicinal Uses

Bark is used in the treatment of eye disorders, inflammation, antidote for scorpion and snake venoms, cough, gonorrhea . It is commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of stomach ulcer and as diuretic. It is also useful in cephalagia, opthalmia, gout and rheumatism.

Traditionally it is used as disinfectant, astringent, diuretic, cooling property, parasitic infection and disease due to vitiated blood. It is used also used for fever, colic, leprosy, post partum protection, in child birth and as febrifuge.

Flowering: June-July.