Carambola (Averrhoa carambola)

Carambola (Averrhoa carambola) is a slow growing tree from the Malay Region. In nature, the trees will reach about 30 feet tall and about half as wide. The alternate, odd-pinnate leaves are somewhat sensitive — leaves fold together at night, much like mimosas. The trees produce a fruit known as a star fruit, which is an astringent fruit with a sweet and sour flavour. The slow growing nature of these trees makes them an excellent container tree. It is best propagated from seed.

The fruit is rich in juice to the extent that one can make wine out of them. In Burma, it is used for making Tea pickle. In western cuisines, it’s unique shape lends itself mainly as a garnish. Carambola wood is white, becoming reddish with age; close-grained, medium-hard. It has been utilized for construction and furniture.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Oxalidales
Family : Oxalidaceae
Genus : Averrhoa
Species : Averrhoa carambola

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Averrhoa (av-er-OH-uh) - Named for Averrhoes, an Arabian physician.
• carambola (kah-rahm-BOH-luh) - Latin form of an Aboriginal name.

Common Names:

• Carambola, Starfruit, Chinese Star Fruit, Five-angled Fruit, Star Apple, Bilimbi, Belimbing, Coromandel Gooseberry

Links:

• California Rare Fruit Growers - Carambola
• Plant of the Week - Carambola
• Purdue University : Center for New Crops & Plant Products - Carambola

Image Courtesy of Man-wah Leung.

Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium)

Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) is a medium-size, semi-deciduous tree that typically grows to 10 m (occasionally reaching 15 m) in height, with a broad canopy. Native to Central America and possibly northern South America, its cultivation is now pantropical. It grows best in tropical, seasonally dry climates.

It is a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing tree used throughout the tropics for the many environmental services and products it provides. Gliricidia is widely used to provide crop shade for cacao, coffee, and other shade-loving crops, living fence posts for pasture and property boundaries, and as a fallow tree to improve degraded land. The tree is also an important source of green manure, fodder, and fuel wood. Its ease of propagation by seed and small and large cuttings makes it a very easy tree for farmers to multiply quickly. It is probably the most widely cultivated multi-purpose agro-forestry tree after Leucaena leucocephala.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Fabales
Family : Fabaceae
Subfamily : Faboideae
Tribe : Robinieae
Genus : Gliricidia
Species : Gliricidia sepium

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Fabaceae (fab-AY-see-ay) - The Faba (broad bean) family, (formerly Leguminosae).
• Gliricidia (gly-rih-SY-dee-uh) - From the Latin glis (dormouse) and caedo (kill); referring to the use of the seeds and bark to poison rodents.
• sepium (SEP-ee-um) - Of hedges and fences.

Common Names:

• Gliricidia, Mexican Lilac, Forest Lilac, Mother of Cocoa, Nicaraguan Coffee Shade, Quick Stick, St. Vincent Plum, Tree of Iron (English)
• Seemai agathi (Tamil)
• Seema konna (Malayalam)
• Gobbarda mara (Kannada)
• Madri (Telugu)
• Saranga (Bengali)

Links:

• AgroForestry - Gliricidia
• Tropical Forages - Gliricidia
• Purdue University : Center for New Crops & Plant Products - Gliricidia
• Flowers of India - Gliricidia

Image Courtesy of Dinesh Valke.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) is a species of maple native to Japan and South Korea. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree reaching heights of 6–10 m, rarely 16 m, often growing as an understory plant in shady woodlands. It may have multiple trunks joining close to the ground. In habit, it is often shaped like an upside-down pyramid (especially when younger) or takes on a dome-like form, especially when mature. The leaves are 4–12 cm long and wide, palmately lobed with five, seven, or nine acutely pointed lobes. The flowers are produced in small cymes, the individual flowers with five red or purple sepals and five whitish petals. The fruit is a pair of winged samaras, each samara 2–3 cm long with a 6–8 mm seed. The seeds of Japanese maple and similar species require stratified in order to germinate.

This is one of the most beautiful small trees for the ornamental landscape. It is perfectly suited as a specimen tree, an accent in a mixed border, or in a container on the patio. It anchors the Japanese style garden. Many of the cultivars remain quite small and are especially useful in small gardens, even rock gardens, and for bonsai. The brilliant fall foliage lights up the garden, and the slender twigs and contorted branches provide winter interest.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Sapindales
Family : Sapindaceae
Genus : Acer
Species : Acer palmatum

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Aceraceae (ay-ser-AY-see-ay) - The Acer (maple) family; from the Latin word for acrid or sharp, referring to Maple’s hardness and the ancient Roman use of the wood for spears.
• Acer (AY-ser) - Acrid (the Maple genus); also from a Latin word meaning sharp, in reference to the hardness of maple wood which was used for spears by Roman soldiers.
• palmatum (pahl-MAY-tum) - Shaped like the palm of the hand.

Common Names:

• Japanese Maple, Smooth Japanese Maple, Iroha-momiji

Links:

• Floridata - Japanese Maple
• University of Florida : IFAS Extension - Japanese Maple

Image Courtesy of Douglas Knisely.

Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

The Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii syn. Abies menziesii, Pseudotsuga mucronata) is an evergreen conifer native to the coastal regions of western North America, from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. It is a very tall tree, the second-tallest conifer in the world (after Coast Redwood). Trees 60-75 m or more in height and 1.5-2 m in diameter are common in old growth stands. It commonly lives more than 500 years and occasionally more than 1,000 years.

Douglas-fir is one of the worlds best timber producers and yields more timber than any other tree in North America. The wood is used for dimensional lumber, timbers, pilings, and plywood. Creosote treated pilings and decking are used in marine structures. The wood is also made into railroad ties, mine timbers, house logs, posts and poles, flooring, veneer, pulp, and furniture. Douglas-fir is used extensively in landscaping. It is planted as a specimen tree or in mass screenings. It is also a popular Christmas tree.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Pinophyta
Class : Pinopsida
Order : Pinales
Family : Pinaceae
Genus : Pseudotsuga
Species : Pseudotsuga menziesii

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Pinaceae (py-NAY-see-ay) - The Pinus (pine) family.
• Pseudotsuga (SOO-doh SOO-guh) - False tsuga.
• menziesii (menz-ESS-ee-eye) - Named for Archibald Menzies, 19th century Scottish botanist.

Common Names:

• Douglas Fir, Oregon Pine, Yellow or Red Spruce

Links:

• Gymnosperm Database - Douglas Fir
• Floridata - Douglas Fir
• University of Florida : IFAS Extension - Douglas Fir

Image Courtesy of Michael G. Shepard.

Silk Cotton Tree (Bombax ceiba)

Silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba, syn. Bombax malabaricum, Salmalia malabarica) is a type of native cotton tree with large red flowers. Silk cotton trees comprise eight species in the genus Bombax, native to India, tropical southern Asia, northern Australia and tropical Africa. Semul trees bear beautiful red-coloured flowers during January to March. The phenomenon paints the whole landscape in an enchanting red hue.

The fruit, the size of a ping-pong ball, on maturity appears during March and April. These are full of cotton-like fibrous stuff. It is for the fibre that villagers gather the semul fruit and extract the cotton substance called “kopak”. This substance is used for filling economically priced pillows, quilts, sofas etc. The fruit is cooked and eaten and also pickled. Semul is quite a fast growing tree and can attain a girth of 2 to 3 m, and height about 30 m, in nearly 50 years or so. Its wood, when sawn fresh, is white in colour. However, with exposure and passage of time it grows darkish gray. It is as light as 10 to 12 kg, per cubic foot.

It is easy to work but not durable anywhere other than under water. So it is popular for construction work, but is very good and prized for manufacture of plywood, match boxes and sticks, scabbards, patterns, moulds, etc. Also for making canoes and light duty boats and or other structures required under water.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Malvales
Family : Malvaceae
Genus : Bombax
Species : Bombax ceiba

Pronunciation/Meaning:

• Bombax (BOM-baks) - From the Greek bombyx (silk), referring to the silken fibers from this tree.
• ceiba (SAY-buh) - Latinized form of the South American name for this tree.

Common Names:

• Silk Cotton Tree, Kapok Tree, Red Silk Cotton Tree (English)
• Shalmali, Semul (Hindi)
• Saanvari, Saura (Marathi)
• Ilavu, Puulaa, Mullilavu (Tamil)
• Tera (Manipuri)
• Dumboil, Himila, Himolu (Assamese)

Links:

• Flowers of India - Silk Cotton Tree
• James Cook University : Discover Nature - Silk Cotton Tree

Image Courtesy of Dinesh Valke.