Elaeocarpus balansae seed
LATIN NAME: Elaeocarpus balansae
COMMON NAME: Balansa’s Elaeocarpus
When it flowers, this tree turns its whole crown into a froth of white. The Balansa’s elaeocarpus grows as an upright, evergreen tree, reaching up to twenty metres or more, with the fine, glossy, oblong or lance-shaped, toothed leaves and, through the warm months, the many small, white, fringed, bell-like flowers hanging in loose clusters, followed by the small, round, blue or dark fruits. The flowers have a delicate, fringed edge that makes each one look like a tiny, white bell, and they hang in such numbers that the whole tree seems to shimmer in the warm air. It is a species of the flowering tree in the elaeocarpus family, native to the warm forests of the south-eastern Asia, while it is treasured for its fine, white, fringed flowers, and it is known as the Balansa’s elaeocarpus.
The Balansa’s elaeocarpus belongs to the elaeocarpus family, Elaeocarpaceae, and it is an upright, evergreen tree of the warm forests of the south-eastern Asia, while it is treasured for its fine, white, fringed flowers, and it is known as the Balansa’s elaeocarpus. Its fine, glossy leaves and its small, blue fruits set it apart in the warm garden. It is prized for its fine, glossy leaves and its white, fringed flowers.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Horticulturists and botanists both have their reasons for studying this tree. The fine, white, fringed, bell-like flowers have been written up in the horticultural papers as a fine flowering tree of the warm garden, and its growth, its flowering and its cultivation have been carefully watched, while the glossy, toothed leaves and the small, blue fruits have kept the botanists busy. The ecology of the tree has also been studied, since its small, round, blue fruits feed the birds of the forest, and its place in the warm lowland forest has been looked at. The tree has been studied for its fine, hard, workable wood, and for its neat, upright, evergreen form that makes it a fine tree of the warm avenue and the garden. For a tree with such a fine flowering show, the Balansa’s elaeocarpus has a rich and continuing record of study.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
In the landscape, the Balansa’s elaeocarpus gives a great deal back. Its many small, white, fringed, bell-like flowers feed the bees and the many insects, and its small, round, blue fruits feed the birds, while its glossy, evergreen crown gives a fine shade and a shelter to the garden. Its fine, hard, workable wood has been valued in the region, and its white-flowered, glossy-leaved form has made it a treasured tree of the warm avenue and the garden. The fringed, white flowers make a fine show for weeks in the warm months, and the small, blue fruits add a quiet second season of interest. The Balansa’s elaeocarpus is a rewarding tree for the grower, and for the warm-garden gardener it brings a white-flowered, blue-fruited evergreen. These seeds are best sown fresh — clean the small seeds off the blue fruits and sow them straight away at a shallow depth in pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a sheltered, half-shaded spot and never let them dry out, and the first shoots will be up in their own good time.