Cannonball tree

Cannonball tree

Cannonball tree and flower

Common name: Nagchampa

Scientific name: Couroupita guianensis

Distribution:
An evergreen tree, its a native to tropical northern southern America and tropics such as in India and Thailand. It is rare,but also found in our neighbouring country Bangladesh.

Description:
This wonderful tree is indeed a wonder. The cannon ball tree as it is often called, has large, round and heavy brown cannonball-like fruits, which according to their namesakes fall with loud and explosive noise. An interesting feature of this tree are the large brightly coloured flowers with strong and sweet scented smell. They are orange, scarlet or pink in colored, growing from stalks sprouting from the tree trunk. Another peculiar thing about the flower is that they have no nectar within them.

Interesting fact:
This tree is considered to be sacred, because the petals resemble the hood of the ‘Naga’, a sacred snake protecting the ‘Shiva Lingam’- the stigma.

Economic importance-
1. The tree is grown in Shiva and Buddhist temples owing to its religious significance.
2. The tree is said to have anti-fungal, antibiotic, antiseptic and analgesic qualities.
3. The leaf juice is used to cure skin diseases and malaria.
4. The bark of the tree is used to cure cold and stomach aches and the fruit is used to disinfect wounds.

These fabulous trees are worth looking for. Just watch out for the falling cannonballs.