THE AMAZING FLOWERS IN THE NATURAL WORLD: THE NAGALINGA PUSHPA

THE AMAZING FLOWERS  IN THE NATURAL WORLD:

THE NAGALINGA PUSHPA 

It’s summer here in Namma Ooru Bengaluru and it’s that time of the year when the air is filled with the heavenly fragrance of one of Nature's most beautiful of flowers the Nagalinga Pushpa - the flowers of the Cannonball tree (Botanical Name: Couroupita guianensis). These tall trees are in full bloom with hundreds of attractive sweet smelling flowers. 

Nature is not in LOCKDOWN and for those lucky residents in Malleshwaram, Basavanagudi, RMV (Raj Mahal Vilas) Second Stage, Infantry Road and of course the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens (temporarily closed), the IISc campus and many other localities in the city, it’s a sight to behold.

The Cannonball Tree:

Couroupita guianensis is native to the rainforests of  Central and South America and it is cultivated in many other tropical areas throughout the world because of its beautiful, fragrant flowers and large, interesting fruits There are medicinal uses for many parts of Couroupita guianensis, and the tree has cultural and religious significance in  India Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.

Couroupita guianensis grows up to 35 meters in height, flowers are born in large bunches up to 10 meters in length, most trees flower profusely, until the entire trunk is buried in flowers, one tree can bear 1000 or more flowers.

The odd feature of the Cannonball tree is that its flowers and fruits grow from woody extrusions from the trunk of the tree and carry bulbous buds and fragrant six-petalled scarlet/orange flowers.

Another oddity are the fruits of this tree, which are spherical with a woody shell and reach diameters up to 25 centimeters or about 10 inches in diameter, giving the species the name Cannonball tree. 

          The tree was named Couroupita guianensis by the French botanist Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet in 1755. 

The Nagalinga Pushpa:

A rarity in nature are the flowers of the Cannonball tree, no other flower has such a stunning formation of its Stigma, Stamens and Petals.               The Stamens of the flower seem to represent the 1000-headed Cobra Snake in Hindu Mythology, protecting the Shiva Linga - the Stigma; the flower base comprises of pink or red petals that resemble the Lotus. The petals are scarlet on the inside with a white base and yellow inside. There are two sets of stamens. The first is the infertile set and the second is the fertile set. The flower has no nectar and uses the pollen in the infertile exposed stamens to attract bees.

In India the flower is known by many names:

In Hindi - Shiv Kamal/Shivaling/Kailaspati. Nagalingam in Tamil and Nagkeshar in Bengali. Nagalinga Pushpa in Kannada; Nagalingam in Malayalam; Nagamalli flowers or Mallikarjuna flowers in Telugu.

Hindus revere it as a sacred tree because the petals of the flower resemble the hood of the Naga, a sacred snake, protecting a Shiva Lingam, the stigma.  These trees are extensively grown in Shiva temples in India.

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