Cannonball Tree

Did you know

• The cannonball tree's huge pink-and-red flowers grow directly from the trunk in long racemes that hang like ropes—the entire trunk can be wrapped in flowers from ground level up.
• Hindu temples across India consider the cannonball tree sacred—the strange flower structure is said to resemble a cobra (naga) raising its hood over a Shiva lingam, and the trees are planted at Shiva temples.
• After the flower comes the fruit: a perfectly round wooden cannonball up to 10 inches across, containing hundreds of seeds in pungent blue-green flesh that smells like a mix of cheese and rotting meat.
• When the giant fruits fall (which they do without warning), they hit the ground with a loud thump and crack open—visiting tourists are famously warned not to walk under cannonball trees.
• The flowers are pollinated by carpenter bees, which the tree carefully manages: it produces fertile pollen on one set of stamens and sweet decoy pollen on a hooded second set, manipulating the bees into perfect pollen contact.

Color meanings

Uses

• Specimen tree
• Sacred plant
• Botanical garden curiosity
• Tropical landscaping