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Shorea Robusta Roxb
I spotted this beautiful tree while traveling through Phnom Penh. It had a very unique look and the flowers smelled fantastic! In Buddhist tradition, it is said that Queen Māyā of Sakya gave birth to Gautama Buddha under a sal tree in a garden in Lumbini. The trees in Cambodia had signs at the base stating that the trees were sacred and picking the flowers was sinful.
This tree is native to southern Asia. Sal is moderate to slow growing, and can attain heights of 30 to 35 m and a trunk diameter of up to 2-2.5 m.
This is the flower of cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) and not Sal tree (Shorea_robusta)'s flower...
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