Family : Guttiferae

English : Iron wood tree

Hindi : Nagakesar

Gujarati : Nagkesar

Sanskrit : Nagapushpa

Part used : Flower

Botanical Description: A medium sized, glabrous evergreen tree, 18-30m in height and reddish brown bark which peels off in thin flakes; leaves simple, opposite, thick. Lanceolate, coriaceous, covered with waxy bloom underneath, red when young, acute or acuminate, nerves inconspicuous, flowers white very fragrant, axillar or terminal, solitary or in pairs, stamens very numerous, golden yellow, much shorter than the petals; fruits ovoid with a conical point surrounded by the enlarged sepals, seeds 1-4 angular, dark brown, smooth. Flowering and fruiting from Febuary to July.

It is found throughout India.

Modern Pharmacological Action: The tested Nagkesar oil showed a remarkable antimicrobial activity on microbes Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. The results also revealed that the crude oil has the best antimicrobial effect on S. aureus, even better than all the standard antibiotics.