Calophyllum inophyllum seed
LATIN NAME: Calophyllum inophyllum
COMMON NAME: Alexandrian Laurel
Alexandrian laurel is the broad, glossy, seaside tree of the warm coasts, and it grows along the beaches and the shorelines of the tropics and the warm subtropics. The dense, rounded crown of the shiny, oval leaves gives a fine, deep shade, and the small, white, fragrant flowers and then the round, green to brown fruits follow through the season. The tree is tough, wind-hardy and tolerant of the salt, so it is a mainstay of the warm coastal planting. It is a handsome, generous tree for the seaside garden.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Alexandrian laurel has a strong presence in the plant science, and it has been studied for the traditional uses of its oil and its timber. The oil pressed from the fruit and the seeds, which has a long history of use in the warm-country medicine, has been closely studied, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the coastal trees and the useful tropical plants. The fine-grained, heavy, ornamental wood is also a regular subject of the studies of the tropical timber. The tree’s role in the coastal shelter and the windbreak planting is well documented in the forestry and the horticultural journals.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Alexandrian laurel is a tree of many uses. The hard, handsome wood is used for the boat-building, the furniture and the joinery, and the oil pressed from the fruit has a long traditional use as a balm and a lamp oil. The tree is planted widely along the warm coasts for the shade, the windbreak and the ornamental value, and it stands up well to the salt and the storm. It has been written about in the horticultural and the botanical papers for its toughness and its many uses. It is a fine, generous tree of the warm seaside garden.
The Alexandrian laurel is a tree of the warm coasts of the Indian and the Pacific oceans, and it has been planted along the shorelines of the warm world for its shade and its handsome, glossy foliage. The oil pressed from the fruit and the seeds has a long history of use in the warm-country medicine, and the hard, heavy, reddish-brown wood is prized for the boat-building and the fine joinery. The tree stands up well to the salt, the wind and the storms, and it is a mainstay of the seaside planting. The small, white, fragrant flowers and the round, green to brown fruits add to its quiet value through the season.
The Alexandrian laurel is easy from the fresh seed. Pick the ripe, round fruits, clean the large, brown seeds off the flesh and sow them right away at a depth of a couple of centimetres in pots of moist, free-draining soil. Keep the pots in a warm, bright, sheltered spot and water them gently. The seedlings push through before long and grow on into sturdy young trees that tolerate the salt and the wind. Give them a warm, sunny, sheltered spot near the coast, and they will grow into fine, glossy trees.
A medium-sized to large evergreen tree 8-25 m in height, sometimes reaching up to 35 m. Canopy width is often greater than the tree¯s height when the tree is grown in open locations. It has a broad, spreading crown, often with large, gnarled, horizontal branches. The light gray bark shows deep fissures alternating with flat ridges. Sap is milky white. It bears clusters of 4-15 fragrant white flowers about 2.5 cm across and 8-14 mm long on long, sturdy stalks in leaf axils. There are 4-8 oblong petals. The opposite leaves are dark green, shiny, and hairless with broadly elliptical blades 10-20 cm long and 6-9 cm wide. Both the tip and base of the leaves are rounded. Leaf veins run parallel to each other and perpendicular to the midrib. The ball-shaped, light green fruits grow in clusters. Fruits are 2-5 cm in diameter. The skin, which turns yellow and then brown and wrinkled when the fruit is ripe, covers the thin pulp, the shell, a corky inner layer, and a single seed kernel. One large brown seed 2-4 cm in diameter is found in each fruit.
balltree