Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz (BIGNONIACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Midnight Horror, Broken Bones Plant

Description

Evergreen or semi-evergreen tree to 15 m tall, often much branched from the base in older trees with irregularly sparsely branched crown. Leaves compound, opposite, very large, c. 150 cm long, 3-4x-pinnate. Flowers 8-12 cm long, very large, dirty yellow to pink-violet in upright clusters held above the crown. Fruits 30-120 cm long, sword-shaped.


Ecology

Forest gaps and secondary growth areas.

Distribution

Widespread from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, S China, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Timor, Borneo, Sulawesi and Philippines.

Uses

Young fruits are edible. Wood used for matchsticks, paper pulp and firewood.