[4] The plant grows across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and western Indonesia.

Dhak forests covered much of the Doaba area between the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers, but these were cleared for agriculture in the early 19th century as the English East India Company increased tax demands on the peasants.

Consumption of Palash Sharbat (drink) gives strength to the body to bear the heat and keeps away from health related diseases.

[9] In India, the tree serves as a crucial host for the lac bug (Laccifer lacca), which creates shellac.

[10] The bark produces a crimson exudate that, when dried, hardens into a substance called "Butea gum" or "Bengal kino".

Up until a century ago, a would-be-son-in-law was tested on his dexterity in making this plate and bowl (used to serve daal, gravy dishes) before being declared acceptable by the father-in-law-to-be.

[15] The flame of the forest is mentioned in the description of the landscape of Punjab in Khushwant Singh's A History of the Sikhs Vol.

He writes, "While the margosa is still strewing the earth with its brittle ochre leaves, the silk cotton, the coral and the flame of the forest burst into flowers of bright crimson, red, and orange.

as the tree Mowgli instructs his wolf-brother Grey Brother to wait under for a signal that Shere Khan has returned.

[17] In West Bengal, it is associated with spring, especially through the poems and songs of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who likened its bright orange flame-like flower to fire.

The beauty of dry deciduous forests of Jharkhand reach their height when most trees have shed their leaves and the Palash is in its full bloom.

Chamata is the vernacular version of Sanskrit word harinee, small piece of wood that is used for agnihotra or the fire ritual.

Jayadeva in the Gita Govinda compares these blossoms to the red nails of Kamadeva or Cupid, with which the latter wounds the hearts of lovers.

The following stanza is translated by Barbara Stoller Miller; for kimsuka blossoms, she uses the common name "flame tree petals":