Parkia Biglandulosa, Badminton Ball Tree - 0.5 kg Seeds

The Badminton Ball Tree, Parkia biglandulosa, is a tall, fast-growing leguminous tree grown across India as a striking ornamental and avenue tree. Its name comes from its remarkable flower heads, which hang on long stalks as dense, shuttlecock-shaped balls of tiny cream-to-yellow florets that open at night and are pollinated by bats. With its spreading umbrella-like crown of feathery bipinnate foliage it gives generous shade in parks, campuses and roadsides, and as a legume it helps enrich the soil.

• Family: Fabaceae
• Native region: Tropical Africa (widely planted across India)
• Mature height: 15–25 m
• Growth rate: Fast

The seeds have a hard, water-resistant coat typical of the pea family and need pre-treatment to germinate evenly. Pour hot water over the seeds and let them soak as the water cools for 24 hours (or nick the coat), then sow the swollen seeds about 2 cm deep in well-drained nursery bags or beds kept moist and warm. Germination generally follows in two to three weeks; grow the seedlings on in deep bags and field-plant the sturdy saplings with the monsoon.