Copper-pod tree
Scientific Name :
Peltophorum pterocarpum (DC.) Backer ex Heyne
Synonym(s) :
Baryxylum inerme (Roxb.) Pierre
Local/Common name(s) :
Charakkonna, Copper-pod tree
Family :
Fabaceae
Habit :
Tree
Flowering/Fruiting Time :
Throughout the year
Habitat :
Planted as ornamental tree
Endemic :
No
Status (IUCN) :
Distribution :
Native to Sri Lanka, Australia; Kerala: throughout (planted)
Nativity :
Exotic
Uses :
Medicine, Tannin, Fodder, Dye, Ornamental
Description (Morphology) :
Trees, to 20 m high, young parts brown tomentulose. Leaves bipinnate, alternate, stipulate; stipules small, lateral, cauducous; rachis 21-40 cm long, stout, pulvinate, brown tomentulose; pinnae 10-12 pairs, opposite, 4-15 cm long, slender, pulvinate, brown pubescent; leaflets 14-38, opposite, estipellate; lamina sessile, oblong, base obliquely truncate, apex obtuse or retuse, margin entire, glabrous above, puberulent beneath, membranous; lateral nerves 4-8 pairs, pinnate, slender, prominent, intercostae reticulate, faint. Flowers bisexual, golden yellow, in terminal or lateral racemose panicles; pedicels 7-10 mm long; calyx lobes 5, ovate, 7-10 mm long minutely rufous tomentulose; petals 5, subequal, crinkled; stamens 10, filaments free, pilose at base; anthers uniform; ovary half inferior; stigma peltate. Fruit a pod, samaroid, oblong-elliptic, minutely tomentulose, longitudinally striated; seeds 1-4, lenticular, light brown, compressed.