Health Benefits of Cannonball tree – Couroupita guianensis

Cannonball tree Scientific Name: Couroupita guianensis is native to the rainforests of Central and South America.

The Cannonball tree is, also found in the tropics such as in India, Costa Rica, Thailand, Honduras, Colombia, Bolivia, United States, Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela.

It is, planted as ornamental trees in the parks and highways. The single Cannonball tree bears 150 fruits, and 1000 flowers have strong scent especially in the morning and at night.

Bats and bees are responsible for the pollination to take place.

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The flowers are, mostly visited by flower bees, bumble bees, wasps and carpenter bees.

It is, said that in South America; Shamans used tree parts to treat malaria. Young leaves are used to provide relief from toothache.

The extracts of the tree parts are used to cure pain, hypertension, tumours and inflammation. The fruit pulp is rubbed on sick dogs to cure them of disease.

Cannonball is a tree that reaches heights of up to 110 ft. The leaves, which occur in clusters at the ends of branches, are usually 3 to 12 inches long but can reach lengths of up to 22 inches.

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The flowers are born in racemes up to 31 inches long. Some trees flower profusely until the entire trunk is, covered with racemes.

They are up to 2.5 inches in diameter, with six petals, and are typically brightly coloured, with the leaves ranging from shades of pink and red near the bases to yellowish toward the tips.

There are two areas of stamens: a ring of stamens at the centre, and an arrangement of stamens that have been, modified into a hood.

The fruits are spherical with a woody shell and reach diameters of up to 10 inches, which give the species the common name cannonball tree.

Small fruits can contain about 65 seeds, while large ones can hold as many as 550.

The fruits take up to a year to mature in most areas, sometimes as long as 18 months.