Pterygota alata

• Botanical Name : Pterygota alata (Roxb.) R. Br.
• Synonyms : Sterculia alata Roxb., Erythropsis roxburghiana Schott & Endl.
• Common Name : Stave Wood, Buddha's Coconut, Badha
• Plant Family : Sterculiaceae
• Plant Form : Tree
• Occurrence (Sectors) : 18

About Pterygota alata Plant :

• Habit : A small tree, young parts covered with dense golden stellate hairs.
• Stem : Erect, branched, cylindrical and solid.
• Leaves : Ovate, cordate, acute, stipules small.
• Inflorescence : Racemes, few flowered, from the old axils below the leaves.
• Flowers :
  • Bracteate, bracts caduceus, unisexual.
  • Calyx campanulate, lobes 5, valvate, thick and fleshy with red and yellow veins inside.
  • Male Flowers :
  • Staminal column slender with 5-6 sterile ovaries on the apex, around which are 4-5 groups of sub-sessile stamens.
  • Female or hermaphrodite Flowers :
  • Ovaries 5, sessile, ovules many, styles very short, hairy, recurved, stigma 2-lobed, staminodes or stamens round the base of the ovary.
• Fruit : Follicles 5, subglobose, about 5 inches diameter, on long stalks, hard and woody and hairy.
• Seeds : About 40, oblong compressed winged.
• Flowering and Fruiting Time : February - April
• Significance :
  • Ornamental tree planted for shade in the gardens and along roadside.
  • Seeds are edible and are used as a substitute for opium.
  • They are roasted and eaten.