Kadam

Description:

Neolamarckia cadamba, commonly called Kadam is an evergreen, tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia. The genus name honours French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. The species has been widely but incorrectly called Anthocephalus chinensis. It has scented orange flowers in dense globe-shaped clusters. The flowers are used in perfumes. The tree is grown as an ornamental plant and for timber and paper-making. A fully mature Kadam tree can reach up to 45 m (148 ft) in height. It is a large tree with a broad crown and straight cylindrical bole. It is quick growing, with broad spreading branches and grows rapidly in the first 6–8 years. The trunk has a diameter of 100–160 cm, but typically less than that. Leaves are 13–32 cm (5.1–12.6 in) long. Flowering usually begins when the tree is 4–5 years old. Kadam flowers are sweetly fragrant, red to orange in colour, occurring in dense, globular heads of approximately 5.5 cm (2.2 in) diameter. The fruit of N. cadamba occur in small, fleshy capsules packed closely together to form a fleshy yellow-orange infructescence containing approximately 8000 seeds. On maturing, the fruit splits apart, releasing the seeds, which are then dispersed by wind or rain. Some botanical features are : Leaves glossy green, opposite, simple more or less sessile to petiolate, ovate to elliptical with dimensions of 15–50 cm (5.9–19.7 in) by 8–25 cm (3.1–9.8 in); Flowers inflorescence in clusters; terminal globose heads without bracteoles, subsessile fragrant, orange or yellow flowers; Flowers bisexual, 5-merous, calyx tube funnel-shaped, corolla gamopetalous saucer-shaped with a narrow tube, the narrow lobes imbricate in bud; Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla tube, filaments short, anthers basifixed. Ovary inferior, bi-locular, sometimes 4-locular in the upper part, style exserted and a spindle-shaped stigma; Fruitlets numerous with their upper parts containing 4 hollow or solid structures. Seed trigonal or irregularly shaped.

Habitat:

lowland and highland forest. Cultivated for its wood.