Cordia sebestena seed
LATIN NAME: Cordia sebestena
COMMON NAME: Geiger Tree
The Geiger tree is the bright, seaside tree of the warm coasts, and it is planted along the shorelines of the warm world for its bold, orange-red flowers and its tough, wind-hardy ways. The broad, round crown of the rough, dark-green leaves is covered, through much of the warm season, with the clusters of the showy, trumpet-shaped flowers, and the white, fragrant fruit follows. The tree stands up well to the salt, the wind and the dry spells, and it is one of the best of the warm coastal trees. It is a fine, generous tree for the seaside garden.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Geiger tree has a quiet but real presence in the plant science, and it has been studied for its place in the warm coastal planting and its tough, salt-tolerant ways. The tree’s ability to stand up to the wind, the salt and the dry spells has been looked at closely, and it keeps showing up in the work on the coastal and the seaside trees. The hard, heavy wood has a traditional use in the region, and the plant is a quiet subject of the work on the useful trees of the warm coasts. The tree is a regular feature of the arboriculture and the landscape journals of the warm regions.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The Geiger tree is grown for the looks and for the shade. The bold, orange-red flowers put it among the great flowering trees of the warm coasts, and the nectar pulls in the birds and the bees of the region. The hard, heavy, fine-grained wood has a traditional use for the small turned and carved work, and the tree is planted widely along the warm shorelines for the shade and the windbreak. It has been written about in the horticultural papers for its bold flowers and its toughness, and it is a fine, generous tree for the warm seaside garden.
The Geiger tree comes from the warm coasts of the America and the islands of the Caribbean, and it has been planted along the shorelines of the warm world for its bright, orange-red flowers. The hard, heavy, fine-grained wood has a traditional use for the small turned and carved work, and the tree is a familiar of the seaside gardens and the coastal towns. The nectar-rich, trumpet-shaped flowers pull in the birds and the bees of the region, and the white, fragrant fruit follows the flowers. It is one of the best of the warm coastal trees, standing up well to the salt, the wind and the dry spells.
To grow the Geiger tree from seed, clean the small seeds off the ripe, white fruit and soak them in warm water for a day, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil. Keep the pots in a warm, bright, sheltered spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a few weeks and grow on into sturdy young trees that tolerate the salt and the dry spells. Give them a warm, sunny, sheltered spot, and the bright, orange-red flowers will reward the patience.
The Geiger Tree is widely grown in the tropics for its showy, bright orange flowers. The flowers are funnel shaped and have a narrow tube and 6 ruffled petals. They are in rounded clusters at the ends of the twigs. It flowers throughout the year. The fruits are ovoid and white and are edible. Leaves are bright green or dark green and they contrast nicely with the orange flowers. The Geiger Tree flowers throughout the year. It is drought tolerant and salt tolerant. It is native to the coastal hammocks of the Florida Keys, the West Indies and Central America. The seeds were collected from trees in Miami and the Florida Keys.
Growing Instructions
The seeds have a hard seed coat that has to be treated, or scarified, in order for water to enter the seeds so that they can sprout.
- Scarify the seeds by nicking or sanding the seed coat.
- Soak the seeds in water for several hours.
- The seeds like moist, well-drained soil. Prepare a mixture of half potting soil and half sand, perlite or vermiculite. Put the soil in a pot. Water the mixture so that it is moist but not wet.
- Put the seeds on the soil.
- Cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil.
- Water the seeds.
- Place the pots in an area with warm temperatures in full sun or part shade. The seeds take several weeks to germinate.
- When the seedlings are a few inches tall, they can be transplanted.