Common Sterculia is a deciduous tree up to 25 m tall.
The primary branching is whorled. The young shoots are finely brown and
scurfy. The leaves have a long leaf-stalk up to 10 cm, has a slight
heart-shaped base, and a somewhat variable shape from elliptic, oblong
to obovate. Flowers are small, pale yellow with pink sepal-cup, in
drooping racemes in leaf-axils or at branch-ends. Flowers are without
petals, urn-shaped sepal-cup with 5 lanceshaped, pale yellow sepals
curved inwards and spreading outwards after anthesis, stamens 10,
joined into a column with anthers at the top. The fruit pods are very
large, velvety and change from yellow to orange-red. Common Sterculia
is a hardy tree tolerant of urban conditions, and such cultivated trees
are able to produce fruits within 4-5 years. Seeds are cooked and
eaten. It is native to Andaman & Nicobar Is., Bangladesh, Borneo,
Cambodia, Malaya, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam.
Identification credit: Akshay Surendra
Photographed in Middle Andaman and Baratang, Andaman & Nicobar.
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The flower labeled Common Sterculia is ...