Sterculia lychnophora Seeds | Tea Tea Pang Da Hai
LATIN NAME: Sterculia lychnophora
COMMON NAME: Sterculia Tea, Pang Da Hai, Boat-fruited Sterculia
Plant Profile
Sterculia Tea (Sterculia lychnophora) grows as a tall, evergreen tree in the mallow family. Seeds are gathered, dried and used to make a soothing infusion, and tree is known as sterculia, boat-fruited sterculia or pang da hai. Established plants reach around Thirty metres. Through the flowering season it keeps visiting bees well supplied. Few species give back so generously for so little effort.
Science & Biotechnology
Pang da hai is one of the most theatrical drugs in the Chinese materia medica: dropped in hot water, the seed swells into an eight-times-volume jelly in minutes, and that mucilage — a galactose- and rhamnose-rich polysaccharide — is itself the medicine, a bulk demulcent long used for hoarse throats and dry constipation. It is listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and laboratory studies document its water-binding and laxative mechanics. Occasional allergic reactions are reported, and it is a singer’s household remedy across China rather than a clinical drug.
Sterculia lychnophora sits in the mallow family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Sterculia tea has a real and distinguished place in research. Interest from collectors and breeders has never lapsed, and good seed continues to circulate.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Sterculia Tea earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. Ecologically, sterculia is a tall tree of tropical forests and warm gardens. Its large, lobed leaves give a deep shade in warm climate, and its flowers feed bees and insects of warm season, while its large, woody pods and their seeds feed birds and small animals of the forest. To raise sterculia, press large seeds into pots of moist, open compost in a warm, bright place, keep them gently watered, and grow little trees on in the warmth. In later seasons it demands little more than an appreciative eye.
Sterculia gives the voice-soothing Pang Da Hai seed and stately tropical shade trees; the seed’s swelling mucilage makes it the classic singer’s tea.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Sterculia Tea, and the process is uncomplicated. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
The traditional uses covered above are what first made this species worth cultivating. Given the right start, Sterculia Tea, Pang Da Hai, Boat-fruited Sterculia is a long-term garden companion. Minor errors in timing or watering rarely cost the grower the crop.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Sterculia Tea often pair it with these related subjects: