JONESIA ASOKA. Roxb. ii. p. 220.
J. pinnata, Willde. I Saraca pinnata, Willde.
J. Indica, Rheede. S. arboreacens, Burnt.
Asok, . . . BENG. Jassoondi, . . KONKAN. A-thau-ka-pho, . Bum. Kankeli, . . . SANSK. Ashunkar, . . . CAN. Diya rat mayl, . SINGH. Wu-yu•wha, . . CHIN.
The Jonesia genus of plants, of the natural family Leguminosm, was named by Dr. Roxburgh in honour of Sir William Jones. The species are few in number. They form trees, which are highly ornamental from their handsome, shining, abruptly - pinnate leaves, and from the showy nature of their crowded racemes of flowers.
Asoka is a Sanskrit word, from a, privitive, and Soka, sorrow. The asoka flowers appear in March and April, and the fruit in August and September, and when in full blossom the whole vegetable kingdom does not afford a more beautiful object. Its flowers are diversified with orange, scarlet, and bright yellow tints. In Hinduism, it is con secrated to Siva, and is often planted near temples, —as the lotus flower, called Kamala or Padma, is sacred to Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi. In Hindu poetry, despairing lovers very commonly address objects of nature, clouds, elephants, and birds, on the subject of their lost or absent mis tresses, and the asoka tree is often invoked.
In the Toy Cart, translated by H. H. Wilson, Maitreya, describing a garden, says, And here the asoka tree, with its rich crimson blossom, shines like a young warrior bathed in the san guine shower of the furious fight.' Differences in the colour of the flowers arise from their changing during development. When they first expand, they are of a beautiful orange colour, gradually changing to red, forming a variety of beautiful shades. They are fragrant during the night. Hindu men and women of all classes ought to bathe, on a particular day, in some holy stream, especially the Brahmaputra, and drink water with buds of the asoka floating in it. Sita is said to have been confined in a grove of the asoka tree, While in captivity by Ravana ; other relaters say she was confined in a place or house, called Asokwan.—Mason's Tenasserim; Coleman's Mythology ; Lady Faulkland's Chow - Chow ; Richardson's Flowers 'and Flower Gardens ; Williams' Story of Nala, p. 117.