It grows throughout India, ascending to an altitude of 1,300 m in the Himalayas.

B.variegata is a medium-sized, deciduous tree. The bark is gray; the leaves are sub- coriaceous and deeply cordate; the flowers are variously colored and occur in few- flowered, lateral corymbs; the pods are long, hard, flat, glabrous, dehiscent and 10-15 seeded.

The seeds yield a fatty oil, the bark yields fibre. Five flavonoids isolated from the different organs of B.variegata were identified as quercetin, rutin, quercetrin, apigenin and apigenin 7-O-glucoside¹.

The bark is astringent, tonic and anthelmintic. It is useful in scrofula and skin diseases. It is also used for ulcers and leprosy. A decoction of the bark is taken for dysentery. The dried buds are used for diarrhea, dysentery and hemorrhoids.

1. El-Wahab, A et. al., Herba Hung., 1987, 26(1), 27-39.
2. Bhakuni et. al., Ind. J. s Biol., 1969, 6,232.