Frequently asked questions

The scientific name of the true Ashoka (Sita Ashok) is Saraca asoca, in the pea family Fabaceae; Kew's World Checklist gives the full name as Saraca asoca (Roxb.) W.J.de Wilde, and older books also use Saraca indica or Jonesia asoca. In English it is called the Ashoka tree or Sita Ashok. In Hindi it is अशोक or सीता अशोक, also written असोक.

No. The tall, narrow "Ashoka" along north Indian roads is the Mast tree (Monoon longifolium, also sold as Polyalthia longifolia), from the custard-apple family. The true Ashoka (Saraca asoca) is a small tree with a rounded crown, compound leaves and orange-to-crimson flower clusters. See our Mast tree page for that tree.

The true Ashoka is a small evergreen tree with a compact, rounded crown, long compound leaves with 4-6 pairs of leaflets, and limp copper-red new leaves that hang down (eFlora of India, Flowers of India). Its fragrant flowers grow in dense clusters on the branches, open yellow and turn orange and crimson, and have no petals. The pods are flat and leathery. If the leaves are single, long and wavy, it is the Mast tree instead.

Plant a nursery-raised Sita Ashok sapling at the start of the monsoon in moist, well-drained soil with some shade. Vikaspedia's plantation guidance uses 45 x 45 x 45 cm pits refilled with topsoil and well-rotted farmyard manure; treat that as a rule of thumb. Plant at the depth it stood in its bag, shape a basin, put up a guard, give partial shade, and water it often in dry months for the first one or two years.

The best time is the start of the monsoon, once the rains have properly wetted the soil. Vikaspedia transplants seedlings in June or July. As a guide: June-July in the southern peninsula and on the west coast, and July-August in the northern plains, central India and the north-west. Avoid the hot, dry months of April to June.

Plant it where the soil stays moist but does not waterlog, and where a young tree gets shade from the harsh afternoon sun, such as a courtyard, the east side of a wall or the light shade of taller trees, near a water source. In the dry north-west, it does well only in such a sheltered, irrigated spot. For a single tree, about 5-6 m clear around it is our rough starting point, not a safe distance from a house, wall or pipe; ask your local forest or horticulture office if space is tight.

It flowers mainly from late winter to spring: at Anand, Gujarat, an ICAR-DMAPR study recorded flowers from the end of December to May, most in February-March, and eFlora of India notes a peak in early April in Delhi. Trees start flowering about 3-4 years after planting and flower well after about 6-7 years (ICAR-DMAPR); Vikaspedia says they flower profusely at 6-8 years. Pods followed from late March to July in the Gujarat study.

Only while it is young, as general guidance: a sapling can stay for a season or two in a large container with drainage holes, kept moist and out of the harsh afternoon sun. It grows into a tree of up to about 9 m (eFlora of India) and does best in the ground. We found no source on growing it long-term in a pot, so a pot is not a substitute for planting it out.

The Ashoka is regarded as a sacred tree in Indian tradition and is linked with Sita and the Ramayana, but whether it brings good or bad luck to a home is a matter of belief, such as vastu, not something this page can judge. The practical downsides are real: it needs moist soil, shade when young and steady water, it is slow to flower well, and in hot, dry regions it struggles in open sun. Make sure you are not buying the Mast tree by mistake.

Its toxicity is not well documented: we found no ASPCA entry and no reliable data on people, cats or dogs, and it is not a food plant. Keep children and pets from chewing it, and see a doctor, or a vet for a pet, if anyone swallows part of it and feels unwell. The bark is traditionally used in Ayurveda, but that does not prove it works or is safe; talk to a qualified doctor first, and never strip bark from a tree.