AMAZING NATURE - THE FLOWERS OF THE CANNONBALL TREE

 

AMAZING NATURE

THE FLOWERS OF THE CANNONBALL TREE

NAGALINGA PUSHPA

Botanical Name: Couroupita guianensis

 

Currently blooming in Namma Ooru Bengaluru are the Stunning flowers of the Cannon Ball Tree colloquially called “The Nagalinga Pushpa” Flowers.

 

The Shiva Linga; The Snake Hood and the Lotus base:

          A rarity in nature are the flowers of the Cannon Ball tree, no other flower bears such a striking resemblance a stunning formation of the Stigma, Stamen and Petals.

             The Stamens of the flower seem to represent the 1000-headed Cobra Snake in Hindu Mythology, protecting the Shivalinga - the Stigma, surrounded by pink or red petals that resemble the Lotus.

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

          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. 

          The Flowers are large, up to 6 cm wide and brightly colored, there are six petals in shades of orange, pink and red. The ring of stamens at the center arch upwards and look like a snake’s hood.

         During peak, blooming season the entire tree trunk is buried in strongly scented flowers and is a remarkable sight.

          Another oddity are the fruits of this tree, which resemble a cannonball. They fruit is spherical with a hard brown woody shell and reach diameters up to 25 centimeters or about 10 inches, giving the species the name Cannoball tree.

         The tree grows to a height of up to 25 meters or approximately 110 feet.

         The Cannonball Tree is native to the rain forests of Guiana. In India, the tree introduced from South America has been adopted as sacred to Hindus, who believe its hooded flowers look like the nāga, and it is grown near Shiva temples.

 

• Bengali: নাগলিঙ্গম nagalingam • Gujarati: કૈલાસપતિ kailaspati, શિવલીંગી shivalingi • Hindi: नागलिंगम् nagalingam, तोप गोला toap gola • Kannada: ಲಿಂಗದ ಹೂವಿನಮರ lingada hoovinamara, ನಾಗಲಿಂಗ ಪುಷ್ಪ ಮರ nagalinga pushpa mara • Malayalam: നാഗലിംഗം nagalingam • Marathi: कैलासपती kailasapati, नागलिंगम वृक्ष nagalingam vrksa • Odia: ନାଗକେଶର nagakesara, ନାଗେଶ୍ୱର nageshwara, ନାଗଲିଙ୍ଗ nagalinga • Tamil: நாகலிங்கம் nagalingam • Telugu: నాగలింగ nagalinga, శివలింగపుష్పం shivalingapushpam • Tulu: ನಾಗಲಿಂಗ nagalinga 

 

 

****************