Kailashpati, Cannonball - 0.5 kg Seeds

Kailashpati, the Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis), is a striking large tree famous for the dense, fragrant, pink-to-crimson flowers borne directly on long woody racemes along the trunk, and for the huge, rusty-brown, cannonball-like fruits that follow. Native to the South American tropics, it is widely planted at Indian temples and is revered for the resemblance of its flowers to the hood of a serpent over a Shiva linga.

It is grown chiefly as an ornamental and sacred shade tree in temple grounds, parks and large gardens across the warmer parts of India, especially Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and the bark and flowers have traditional antiseptic medicinal uses. The spectacular cauliflorous flowering and curious fruit make it a true landscape specimen.

• Family: Lecythidaceae
• Native region: Neotropics (northern South America)
• Mature height: 25-35 m
• Growth rate: Moderate to fast

Crack open the woody fruit and clean the many seeds free of the soft, strong-smelling pulp. Soak the cleaned seed in water for about 24 hours, sow 1-2 cm deep in a warm, moist seed tray, and expect irregular germination over roughly 21-30 days. Transplant the seedlings carefully into deep bags once well rooted, as they resent disturbance.