Barringtonia racemosa
Barringtonia racemosa
Cultivation Details
A plant of lowland wet tropical, moist topical and wet subtropical climatic zones, it can be found at elevations up to 600 metres. The plant grows in areas where the mean annual temperature is around 27°c, with the hottest moth around 29 - 34°c and the coolest 20 - 23°c. It cannot tolerate even light frosts. The mean annual rainfall is within the range 1,500 - 4,300mm, usually with a year-round distribution, sometimes with a short dry season[4, 5]. Prefers a position in partial shade. It grows well under slightly saline conditions or on beaches near the high water level, with a preference for heavy clay, loam or rich volcanic soils[6]. A comparatively high percentage of the fruit is seedless[4]. As the fibrous coat makes the fruit buoyant in water, it may be carried great distances[4].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. It can be sown in situ or in a partially shaded nursery seedbed and then planted out when large enough[5]. The seed should be sown 3 - 5cm deep in a vertical position with the basal end down -the roots emerge from this end and the shoots emerge from the apex. Seeds from ripe fruits will start to germinate after 7 days. Seeds on their side will take longer to become established. Nearly 100% of viable seeds can be expected to germinate, as there is no seed dormancy. It takes 2 - 3 months to germinate a ripe fruit[5]. Seedlings are ready for field planting about 2 - 3 months after germination, when around 20 - 30cm tall[5] Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Air layering[5]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Barringtonia+racemosa>
Pollinators
Bats, Insects
References
- [1]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.
- [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]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
- [4]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.
- [5]Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands — Elevitch. Craig. R. (Editor) · Permanent Agriculture Resources, Hawaii · 2006 · ISBN 0970254458 ↩︎Beautifully produced book with superb photos and detailed information on over 50 species of useful plants of the Pacific Islands.
- [6]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [7]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.
- [8]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.
- [9]Oil Yielding Plants — Botanical Survey of India. · 2004 · http://mnes.nic.in/list/oil-plants.pdf ↩︎A PDF downloaded from the Internet. Very terse details about the applications of oil obtained from over 300 species of plants.