Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 781)
madhuka, (ifc.) = madhu g. ura-ādi; mfn. honey-coloured (only in -locana, "having honey-coloured eyes", N. of Siva) MBh.; sweet (in taste) W.; mellifluous, melodious ib.; m. a species of tree R. Var. (Bassia Latifolia or Jonesia Asoka L.); Parra jacana or Goensis L.; liquorice L. (cf. n.); a kind of bard or panegyrist L.; the son of a Maitreya and a married Āyogavī L.; (madh-) N. of a man ŚBr.; (ā) f. Menispermum Glabrum L.; Glycyrrhiza Glabra L.; black Panic L.; N. of a river VP.; n. liquorice Suśr. (cf. m.); old honey L.; tin L.

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 781)
madhūka, m. (fr. madhu) a bee ŚāṅkhGṛ.; Bassia latifolia (from the blossoms and seeds of which arrac is distilled and oil extracted) ib. MBh. Kāv. &c.; n. the blossoms or fruit of Bassia latifolia, L.; liquorice, L.; bees-wax, L.

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 849)
kāṭṭiruppai: 1. Mahwa, l. tr., Bassia latifolia; 2. Indian gutta-percha, m. tr., Dichopsis elliptica

Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. II, pp. 354-357)
Bassia butyracea, Bassia latifolia, Bassia longifolia, Sapotaceae
Fig.- Indian butter tree (Eng., B. butyracea)
These trees are called in Sanskrit Madhuka, Madhudruma, "honey tree," Madhupushpa, "honey flower," Madhusakha, Madhusravas, Gudapushpa "sugar flower," and Kolaphala, or "the fruit of the Kols," a wild tribe inhabiting the hills and forests of Central India, who subsist, to a great extent, upon the fleshy flowers which they collect and dry. The milky juice of the bark, Madhuka-sāra, is described as a remedy for phlegm and rheumatism, astringent and a promoter of suppuration; the flowers as sweet, strengthening and cooling; the fruit as cold, sweet and strengthening; it is thought to be antibilious and anti-rheumatic, and useful in leprosy and skin diseases. The spirituous liquor prepared from the flowers is called Madhu-mādhavi or Madhvāsava and is described by Suśruta as heating, astringent, tonic and appetizing. The flowers, seeds and oil obtained from them, are more or less used as food all over India, and in many districts from a very important addition to the dietary of the agricultural classes. For further information upon this subject we would refer our readers to "The Dictionary of Economic Products of India," by Watt (Vol. I., pp. 405-416). Ibn Batuta, who visited India A.D. 1332, mentions Mahwa, and remarks that the flowers, when dried in the sun, taste like figs. The Persians have named these trees Darakht-i-gul-chakān on account of their deciduous flowers. In Guzerat the Mahometans manufacture a coarse soap from the oil of the seeds with soda and lime; this soap varies in price according to the amount of oil it contains. Medicinally, Bassia oil is used as an emollient application to the skin, and the cake as a detergent for washing the hair, and also as an emetic. The oil of B. butyracea, known as 'Phūlwa butter', may be used in the preparation of Ung. Hydrarg. Nitratis in the same manner as Kokam butter (see Garcinia indica). The bark of the Bassias is used in decoction as an astringent. From the flowers a coarse kind of molasses may be prepared. Bassia spirit when rectified loses its offence odour, and may be used for pharmaceutical purposes. The ordinary native distilled spirit is very rich in fusel oil; one of us found as much as 4 per cent. in a sample of Mahwa spirit. In the Bengal districts in which the spirit is made, the fermentation is conducted in earthen vessels containing 10 to 20 gallons of fluid, 10 to 20 seers of the flowers being a charge. The jar is then filled up with spent wash and water, and the process of fermentation occupies from 3 to 7 days, depending on the temperature. The stills are of the rudest description. Molasses and other materials are sometime added to the contents of the vats. The amount of spirit obtained varies with the quality of the flowers: Warden's experiments would indicate that on an average one maund will yield about 2.12 gallons of London proof spirit when treated in the manner usual among native distillers. In some districts a composition called bakha or muli is added to the contents of the fermenting vats; it is stated to be composed of herbs and roots, which are dried, ground, and made up into balls with flour. About half a seer (1 lb.) is added to one maund (80 lbs.) of raw material. In certain cases dhatura, nux vomica seeds and other poisonous substances are added to these balls. The use of bakha has been prohibited in Government distilleries in Calcutta and its suburbs. For further information on Mahwa spirit, we would refer the reader to the report of the Comission of 1883-84 on the excise of country spirit in Bengal. A kind of gutta-percha has been prepared from the milky juice of B. latifolia, which has the consistence of ordinary gutta, but is more adhesive and hardens much more rapidly. Used alone it cannot replace the gutta of commerce, but mixed with an equal proportion of that article, it may be used to make the moulds required in galvanoplastic operations; the mixture is as easily manipulated in hot water as ordinary gutta. (Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen.)