Cannonball Fruit (Couroupita guianensis)

Cannonball Fruit (Couroupita guianensis)

The cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) bears fruit that is shaped like a cannonball. When these 10-inch spheres fall from above and hit the ground, they crack open with a sound like a cannon firing.

Couroupita guianensis is native to the south of the Caribbean and to the northern parts of South America. The tree  known by several common names, including cannonball tree, is a deciduous tree in the family Lecythidaceae, which also contains the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) and Paradise nut Lecythis zabucajo.

 

Cannonball Fruit (Couroupita guianensis)

Yet it has also been growing in India for at least two to three thousand years. It is native to the rainforests of Central and South America.It is cultivated in many other places.

The fruit is fed to livestock such as pigs and domestic fowl. The fruit is edible, but not usually eaten by people because it can have an unpleasant smell.

Cannonball Fruit (Couroupita guianensis)

There are many medicinal uses for the plant. Native Amazonians use extracts of several parts of the tree to treat hypertension, tumors, pain, and inflammation. It has been used to treat the common cold, stomachache, skin conditions and wounds, malaria, and toothache. Laboratory tests show that extracts of the plant have some antimicrobial activity and inhibit the formation of biofilms.The fruit pulp is rubbed on sick dogs to cure them of mange.

The Pictures taken from Penang Botanical Garden.

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Cannonball Fruits
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