Description

Semal Musli designates the tuberous root sections of Bombax ceiba — the red silk cotton or semal tree — a large, spiny-trunked deciduous tree of the family Malvaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and southern China. One of India’s most recognisable large deciduous trees, Bombax ceiba produces spectacular crimson flowers on bare branches in winter, which precede the characteristic white silky cotton of its seed pods. The root — Shalmali Musla in classical Ayurveda — is documented in the Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Hridayam as a Vajikarana herb, incorporated in preparations for male reproductive vitality, nutritive Rasayana formulations, and as a demulcent in gastric preparations. This represents a separate product from the separately catalogued Semal Phool (flower) entry.