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Project Noah Nature School
Couroupita guianensis
These seed pods are huge, as big as a outdoor bowles ball, and nearly as heavy. Inside there are hundreds of seeds.
Tamil Nadu, India.
Outside of India, they are called Cannonball trees, because of the shape of the seed pods, I presume.
Spotted on Dec 19, 2011
Submitted on Jan 16, 2012
8 Comments
Great spotting!! Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Nopayahnah, That's news to me also, that they can be eaten. The shell is really hard, haven't looked inside! Usually there is only 1 seed pod, and it eventually falls onto the ground. Haven't noticed the upper part 'going off' but this year there are so many, I will have more chance to observe them. Just put up a new photo with one in my hand, so you can see the size.
This is pretty! There is a mission, under local missions, that has seed pods. You may want to include your sighting on it.
The description says there is an unpleasant edible jelly - so do people eat these or only animals, or birds...?
Hope your garden is specious... This tree grows very well and its trunk is takes diameter upto 2-3 meters in 10-20 years.
thanks guys for the information. I have 2 growing in my garden and they are truly amazing trees. Each year the flower stalks come out of the trunk lower down, and at this rate, they will be coming out from my big tree at ground level in 5 years!
Its usually called Cannonball tree...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couroupita_...
Common name
Cannonball tree, boskalebas, coco de mono, abricó de macaco, castanha de macaco, cuia de macaco, macacarecuia, sala tree, kanonenkugelbaum.
Over view
The leaves, up to 6" long, are simple with serrate margin; it flowers in racemes; the yellow, reddish and pink flowers are stunning fragrant.
These are large 3" to 5" waxy aromatic smelling, pink and dark-red flowers, growing directly on the bark of the trunk (cauliflory).
Pollination is done by bees and bats.
The tree bears, also directly on the trunk and main branches, large globose woody fruits; they look like big rusty cannonballs hanging in clusters, like balls on a string.
The fruit contains small seeds in a white, unpleasant smelling edible jelly, which are exposed when the upper half of the fruit goes off like a cover.
The long dangling fruity branches give the tree an unkempt appearance.
The hard shells are used to make containers and utensils.