PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
Barringtonia asiatica
Lecythidaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Barringtonia asiatica

Barringtonia asiatica

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The fruit is toxic[1]. The fresh fruit is used for stupefying fish[2]. The seeds have been ground to a powder then added to slow-moving water where it can stun or kill fish for easy capture, suffocating the fish without affecting the flesh[3].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthMedium

Barringtonia asiatica is native to the wet tropical, moist topical and wet subtropical climatic zones, in areas with a uniform rainfall pattern and a precipitation of around 1,150 - 4,300mm. This species does not tolerate frost and prefer areas with warm temperatures within the range 20 - 35°c[3]. Prefers a position in full sun or light shade[1]. Grows best in a fertile, humid, well-drained soil, though it tolerates shallow, saline and infertile soils[1, 3]. Found in the wild in coastal coral soils with a pH in the range 5.1 - 8.5[3]. Established plants are fairly drought tolerant, and can also tolerate seasonal inundation of the soil[1, 3]. Plants are very tolerant of saline conditions and salt laden winds[1]. Plants thrive in the wild where their roots dabbling in the brackish waters of lagoons, inlets, estuaries and seasonally flooded coastal regions[1]. Barringtona asiatica is a widespread tree present in coastal areas in much of the Tropics. This species is included in the Global Compendium of Weeds, although at present it has only been listed as invasive for the Dominican Republic. However, considering that this tree has a great dispersal capability and its fruits can remain viable and floating on the sea for many months, the likelihood of reaching and colonizing new coastal areas is high[3]. The plant flowers almost all year round, producing seeds for about 8 months of the year in Fiji[4]. The lightly fragrant flowers open in the evening and tempt pollinating bats with their abundant pollen[1]. Mature trees yield about 500 - 2,000 fruits per year[5]. Plants are not very tolerant of fire[6]. The fruit is light and buoyant, allowing it to float in sea water and get carried great distances, thus explaining the trees very wide distribution[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. About 70% of the seed germinates in 36 - 63 days[6]. Cuttings. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Barringtonia+asiatica>

Pollinators

Moths, Bats

References

  1. [1]Tropical and Subtropical Trees - A Worldwide Encyclopaedic Guide. — Barwick. M. · Thames & Hudson, London · 2004 · ISBN 0-500-51181-0 ↩︎A superb book, very concise and well written, giving a wealth of information on 400 or more species including descriptions, habitat, cultivation details and plant uses. A wealth of colour photographs bring each plant vividly to life.
  2. [2]The Useful Plants of the Island of Guam — Safford W.E. · Smithsonian Institute; Washington. · 1905 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A very comprehensive, if rather dated, guide to the plants of Guam. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  3. [3]Invasive Species Compendium — http://www.cabi.org ↩︎An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc).
  4. [4]Flora Vitiensis Nova — Smith. A.C. · Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden; Hawaii · 1979 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A comprehensive flora of Fiji, often showing plant uses. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  5. [5]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  6. [6]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  7. [7]Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea — World Health Organisation · 2009 · ISBN 978-92-9061-249-0 ↩︎Traditional medicinal uses of 126 species from Papua New Guinea, including information on modern research into the plants.
  8. [8]Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants — http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/rfk/index.html ↩︎An online resource giving botanical information, and a little bit about plant usage, for over 2,700 species of plants found in the Australian rainforest.
  9. [9]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  10. [10]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Edible Nuts. — Wickens G.E. · FAO, Rome. · 1995 · http://www.fao.org/docrep/ · ISBN 92-5-103748-5 ↩︎Detailed information on 20 of the most valuable nut crops, plus more basic information on a wide range of other nut-producing plants. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  12. [12]Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics : an Inventory — Martin, F. W.; Campbell, C. W.; Rubertbe, R. M. · U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · 1987 ↩︎A booklet giving terse details of almost 300 species of edible fruits, plus regional lists of Botanical and Common names for over 2,500 less well-known edible fruits of the tropics.