Berrya cordifolia

Syn. Espera cordifolia

IUCN Red List Least Concern (LC)

Local name

Trincomalee Wood (English)
Tiriconamalai Maram (Tamil)

Tree type

Evergreen Deciduous

Family: Malvaceae

27m

Indicated uses

Medicinal Edible Ornamental Avenue Other

Flowering & fruiting

Flowering Fruiting

Key characters

Bark

Brownish-grey, smooth and thin, becoming longitudinally fissured with age.

Leaves

Leaves are ovate, deeply heart-shaped at base, often long-pointed, hairy when young. Leaf blade is 6–25 cm long, carried on a 2–10 cm long stalk. Buds are spherical.

Flower

Small, about 8 mm wide, borne in terminal or axillary panicles; calyx 4 mm long, splitting into three unequal lobes, with 4–5 narrow, oblong, white to pale-pink petals.

Fruit / Seeds

The fruits, with 3 pairs of 2–3 cm long wings. Seeds have many bristles which fall off early.

Did you know?

The seeds within its winged capsules bear short, stiff, bristle-like hairs that cause painful irritation and intense itching on contact, serving as a natural defence against seed predators.

Distribution

India to Taiwan and Central Malaysia, Cambodia, Cuba, Tanzania