Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Mesua ferrea L. (CALOPHYLLACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Ceylon Ironwood, Penaga Lilin

Description

Evergreen tree to 24 m tall with very dense narrowly conical crown and slender drooping branches. Leaves 5-13 cm long, opposite, narrowly elliptic, pale or white (glaucous) on the under-surface. Flowers 5-8 cm across, large and showy, white, very fragrant, solitary or in pairs at leaf axils. Fruits 2.8-3.5 cm long, ovoid to ellipsoid seated on persistent woody sepals at base.


Ecology

Species of lowland evergreen forest to 500 m.

Distribution

Sri Lanka, SW India, Andaman Is., Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The red-brown timber is traded as Ceylon Ironwood, extremely hard and durable. It is also widely planted as ornamental street tree.