Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis)

 Cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis)

This tree is planted as an ornamental for its showy, scented flowers, and as a botanical specimen for its interesting fruit. Cuoropita guianensis is a large evergreen tree growing to a height of 35 meters.

Cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis),

In India the tree is sacred to Hindus, who believe its hooded flowers look like the nāga, and it is grown at Shiva temples.

 

The clustered leaves vary in length, generally from 8 to 31 centimeters, but reaching up to 57.

Leaves are alternate, oblong-obovate, up to 31 centimeters long, entire to slightly serrate and hairy on the veins beneath.

The tree was named Couroupita guianensis by the French botanist Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet in 1755. Common names in other languages include many translations of the English cannonball tree. Common names include macacarecuia (Portuguese), coco sachapura (Colombia, Panama), bala de cañón (Costa Rica, Panama), kanonskogelboom (Dutch), arbre à boulet de canon (French), kouroupitoumou (French Guiana), nagkeshar (Bengali), Nagalingam or Lingam (Tamil), Nagamalli (Telugu), sala (Indonesia), granadillo de las huacas (Panama), ayahuma (Peru), and boskalebas (Suriname).

Scientific classification of  Cannonball tree
Kingdom:     Plantae
(unranked):     Angiosperms
(unranked):     Eudicots
(unranked):     Asterids
Order:     Ericales
Family:     Lecythidaceae
Genus:     Couroupita
Species:     C. guianensis
Binomial name: Couroupita guianensis  Aubl.

Sources by http://en.wikipedia.org

The Pictures taken from Penang Botanical Garden.

More:
Cannonball Tree
Cannonball Fruits
Cannonball Flower