06/07/2024
First bloom after a long waiting period
Common name: Cobra saffron, Ceylon ironwood, Indian rose chestnut • Assamese: নাহৰ nahor, নোক্তে nokte • Bengali: নাগেশ্বর nagesar • Garo: kimde • Gujarati: નાગકેસર nagkesar • Hindi: नागेसर nagesar • Kannada: ನಾಗಕೇಸರ nagakesara, ನಾಗಸಂಪಿಗೆ nagasampige • Kashmiri: नागकेसरः nagkesarah • Konkani: नाग चम्पो nag champo, व्हडलो चम्पो vhadlo champo • Malayalam: നാഗകേസരം nagakesaram • Manipuri: নাগেসৰ nageshor • Marathi: नागचाफा nag chafa, नागकेशर nagkeshar • Mizo: herh-sê • Nepali: नाग केशर nag keshar • Oriya: ନାଗକେଶର nagakeshara • Pali: नाग naga • Sanskrit: नागकेसर nagakesara • Tamil: நாக மரம் Nakamaram, புன்னாகம் Punnakam • Telugu: నాగకేసరము naga-kesaramu • Tibetan: na ga ge sar • Tulu: ಬೈನಾವು bainavu, ಕೇಶರ
Botanical name: Mesua ferrea Family: Calophyllaceae
Beautiful Indian evergreen tree planted as an ornamental for its fragrant white flowers that yield a perfume; source of very heavy hardwood used for railroad ties. In olden time, the very hard timber was used for making lances. It is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree up to 13 m tall, often buttressed at the base with a trunk up to 90 cm in diameter. It has simple, narrow, oblong, dark green leaves 7-15 cm long, with a whitish underside; the emerging young leaves are red to yellowish pink and drooping. The flowers are 4-7.5 cm diameter, with four white petals and a centre of numerous yellow stamens. It is the National tree of Sri Lanka.
