Monday, July 5, 2010

Couroupita guianensis

Couroupita guianensis, whose common names include Ayahuma and the Cannonball Tree, is an evergreen tree allied to the Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa), and is native to tropical northern South America and to the southern Caribbean. In India it is growing for the past two or three thousand years at least, as attested by textual records, hence it is possible that it was native to India also. It's part of the family Lecythidaceae and grows up to 25m in height. The Cannonball Tree is so-called because of its brown cannon ball-like fruits. The majority of these trees outside their natural environment have been planted as a botanical curiosity, as they grow very large, distinctive flowers. Its flowers are orange, scarlet and pink in color, and form large bunches measuring up to 3 m in length. They produce large spherical and woody fruits ranging from 15 to 24 cm in diameter, containing up to 200 or 300 seeds apiece.
This is the flower of the cannon ball tree or 'sal' tree. The Sinhalese hold the flowers sacred, since they appear to comprise of a tiny dagoba, shaded by a cobra's hood and surrounded by tiny florets which are thought to represent a crowd of worshippers.




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