Guazuma ulmifolia

• Botanical Name : Guazuma ulmifolia Lam.
• Synonyms : Guazuma tomentosa Kunth
• Common Name : Bastard Cedar, West Indian Elm, Rudrakshi, Bandok, Bhadraksha, Khotorudraksha
• Plant Family : Sterculiaceae
• Plant Form : Tree
• Occurrence (Sectors) : 1, 22, 27, 29
• Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra

About Guazuma ulmifolia Plant :

• Habit : A small tree.
• Leaves : Simple, tomentose, obliquely cordate, ovate-oblong, acuminate, serrate, scabrid.
• Flowers :
  • Yellow in terminal and axillary panicles, which are twice the length of leaves.
  • Petals bigger than sepals, 5, concave at base, prolonged at the apex into 2 narrow strap-shaped processes.
  • Stamens 10, connate into a column which is tubular below and consists of 2, fertile, 3-antheriferous filaments opposite the petals and 5 lanceolatestaminodes opposite the sepals, anther lobes 2, divergent concealed in the hood of petals.
  • Ovary sessile, 5-lobed, 5-celled, styles connate, ovules many in each cell.
• Fruit : Capsule oblong, woody, tubercled.
• Flowering and Fruiting Time : August-September
• Significance :
  • Planted as an ornamental tree everywhere.
  • It yields a good fibre for rope making.