Nagalinga Tree
(Prosperity Tree and Flower)
I love most plants, herbs and trees.
Here is my compilation of information on one of those wonderful trees called
Nagalingam.
Couroupita guianensis, whose common names include Ayahuma and
the Cannonball Tree.
It is a highly medicinal plant. Each and every part of this
plant is used in all types of systems of medicine. C. guianensis is mentioned
under threatened plants category in IUCN Red Data Book, because the habitat of
this species has declined widely.
Couroupita guianensis, known by several
common names, includingcannonball tree, is
a deciduous treein
the family Lecythidaceae. It
is native to the rainforests of Central and South America. In India
it has been growing for the past three thousand years at least, as attested by
textual records, hence it is possible that it is native to India also. Couroupita guianensis grows
up to 35 m (meters) in height. The clustered leaves vary in length, generally
from 8 to 31 centimeters, but reaching up to 57.
The flowers are born in large
bunches up to 80 m(meters) long. Some trees flower profusely, until the entire
trunk is buried in flowers. One tree can bear 1000 flowers per day. They are
strongly scented, especially at night, and in the early
morning. They are large,
up to 6 centimeters wide, and often brightly colored, the six petals in shades
of pink and red near the bases and yellowish toward the tips. There is a ring
of stamens at the center, and an arrangement to stamens that have been
modified into a hood. The large
fruit, which is woody and very spherical, measuring up to 25 centimeters wide,
gives the species the common name "cannonball tree". A smaller fruit
contains perhaps 65 seeds, while a large one can have 550.
One tree can bear 150 fruits. The
fruit takes up to a year to mature in most areas, sometimes as long as 18
months.
The trees are grown extensively in Shiva temples in India. In
Hindi it is called Shiv Kamal and also known as "Kailaspati". It is
called the Nagalingam tree in Tamil and Nagkeshar
in Bengali.
The flowers are called Shivalinga flowers in Hindi; Nagalinga Pushpa in
Kannada; Nagalingam in Malayalam; Nagamalli flowers or Mallikarjunaflowers in
Telugu. Hindus revere it as a sacred tree because the petals of the flower
resemble the hood of the Naga, a sacred snake, protecting a Shiva Lingam, the
stigma.
Pollination
The
flowers lack nectar, but are very attractive to bees coming for the pollen.
The carpenter bee Xylocopa brasilianorum is
a common pollinator of cultivated trees in Rio de Janeiro,
just outside the tree's native range. Other carpenter bees such as Xylocopa frontalis, as
well as wasps, flower flies,
andbumblebees visit
the flowers. The flowers produce two types of pollen, fertile pollen from the
ring stamens and sterile pollen from the hood structure.
Dispersal
The fruit
falls from the tree and often cracks open when it hits the ground. Sometimes
they remain whole until an animal such as a peccary breaks
it open. Many animals feed on the fruit pulp and the seeds, such as the pacaand domestic chickens and pigs. The seeds
are coated with trichomes which
may help them pass through animal intestines.
Human
Uses
This tree is
planted as an ornamental for
its showy, scented flowers, and as a botanical specimen for its interesting
fruit.
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.
In India the tree is sacred to Hindus,
who believe its hooded flowers look like the nāga, and it is grown at Shiva temples.
There are many medicinal uses for the plant. Native Amazonians use extracts of several parts of the
tree to treat hypertension, tumors, pain,
andinflammation. It has been used to treat the common cold, stomachache, skin conditions and wounds, malaria, and toothache.
The bark is used to treat hypertension, tumours, pain and inflammatory
process. Laboratory tests show that extracts of the
plant have some antimicrobial activity and inhibit the formation of biofilms.
The fruit has an unpleasant odor and hence can be used as an
infect-repellant by rubbing it to the skin or clothese.
The fruit pulp is rubbed on sick dogs to cure them of mange.
Other
uses:
1) Hard shells of the fruit sometimes
used as containers and utensils. (2) Wood used for making furniture and also incense. However, one blogger has stated that the wood
is of substandard quality and there is little or no heartwood, it is unfit to
be utilized in any useful activities.
For very beautiful photos on Nagalinga Tree, please
visit: http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/nagalingam/Interesting
The Puducherry Government has announced
cannon ball flower (Nagalingam flower) as the State Flower. It is the bound duty of Pondicherrians to
propagate and conserve this plant in and around Puducherry.
The tree is also rich
in providing anthocyanin, flavanoids, volatile constituents like eugenol and
farsenol. The stem extracts of this plant is known to contain flavonoids,
tannins, steroids, saponins, glycosides, amino acids, phenols, anthraquinones
and triterpenoids.
The natural propagation
of this plant is very slow and seeds directly shown in the soil could not
germinate. Work related to cloning,
tissue culture and micropropagation from mature tissues is largely deficit in
literature. Muniswamy and Sreenath (2000) germinated C. guianensis seed embryo
in vitro because seeds directly shown in the soil could not germinate. They
were successful in in vitro germination of seeds and development of plantlets. There is urgent need to develop a plant
regeneration protocol to conserve this threatened, religiously,
socio-economically and ethno-botanically important plant species using
biotechnological interventions.
My experience: I am student of Hindu High School,
Triplicane, Chennai. This tree was at
the back of the school. As a child, I
was fascinated by the gigantic tree, its huge fruits and awesome flowers. After my school days, I have hardly sighted
this tree. Though most of the blogs and
writings on the tree say that the tree is venerated and the flowers are used in
the puja of Lord Siva, I have not seen OR do not remember to have seen the tree
in any one of the many Siva sthalams I had visited. But, recently when I visited the
Agastheeswarar Temple, Villivakkam, Chennai 600049, I was pleasantly surprised
to see the tree. I collected a few of
the flowers which were on the ground and used them during the next day`s
puja. This latest sighting of the tree
spurred me into looking for info in the internet and the result is this blog.
I am told that Lalbagh,
Cubbon Park and Infantry Road, Bangalore have quite good number of trees. Though, I was at these places a few times, I
don`t remember to have seen them.
Those who are
interested in planting this tree can order at:
Jaiguru Nursery Garden +91-9865087523
Address: No. 1594, Nehru
Nagar, Near hotel Adayar Anandha Bhavan, Polur Main Road, Vengikkal,, Tiruvannamalai -606604, Tamil
Nadu, India
The
Nagalinga flowers attract bees and they spring directly from the bark of the
tree.
The fruits are woody and
are of considerable weight and would do great harm to a person
If they were to fall on
him. Look at the photos below (with
warning sign boards).
The information and photos are a collection from the internet at various times. I heartily thank all those from whose posts they have been collected. Some of the sources are mentioned below.
References:
1. Wikipedia
