Mimusops Elengi - 0.5 kg Seeds

Bakul or Spanish Cherry, Mimusops elengi, is a medium-sized evergreen tree with a dense, dark, rounded crown that gives excellent shade and tolerates pollution well, making it a popular avenue and garden tree across India. It bears small star-shaped cream flowers whose sweet fragrance lingers even after they fall and dry, so the blooms are collected for garlands and potpourri. The tree also yields edible orange berries, a hard reddish timber and bark used in traditional medicine and tooth care.

• Family: Sapotaceae
• Native region: Western Ghats of India and tropical South-East Asia
• Mature height: 10–16 m
• Growth rate: Slow to moderate

Extract the seeds from ripe fruit and sow fresh, as viability falls with storage. Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours and sow about 1.5–2 cm deep in a well-drained nursery mix kept moist and partially shaded. Germination is slow and staggered, often taking three to six weeks; keep beds evenly moist, then transplant the seedlings into bags and grow them on for a season before planting out with the monsoon.