Sterculia colorata
Encyclopedia
Scarlet Sterculia also known as Bonfire tree, Colored Sterculia and Indian Almond and in Marathi known as "कौशी"[kaushi], is a medium-sized tree with spreading branches. It sheds leaves before the onset of flowering. After leaf-shedding, buds sprout
and develop into flowers. The tree flowers from March - April.
The genus Sterculia
was named after the Latin
god Sterculius. Stercus means dung
. This name was given to this genus because of the foul-smelling flowers and leaves of some Sterculia species.
It produces flowers in short dense panicles which occur at the ends of the branches. The flowers are orange
-red
in colour and hang downwards. The flowering stalks together with flowers are covered with fine downy hairs giving the whole inflorescence a soft, velvety look. During flowering phase, the Scarlet Sterculia is quite prominent and presents a brilliant sight because of its orange-red flowers against a leafless state.
The flowers are large, 30 mm long. The flower tube is 13 mm long, tubular
at the base and lobed at the tip. Its rim is surrounded by white soft hair. The corolla looks like it is united inside with the tubular sepals at the base. From the centre of the calyx tube, a staminal column protrudes bearing at its summit 30 anthers.
Scarlet Sterculia is common in the forests of the Western Ghats
and the Deccan.
Sprout
Sprout may refer to:* Shoot, the early growth of a plant** Edible sprouts* Sprouting, germination of seed* Brussels sprout, a green vegetable* Sprouts , a pencil-and-paper game...
and develop into flowers. The tree flowers from March - April.
The genus Sterculia
Sterculia
Sterculia is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It was previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae. Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts...
was named after the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
god Sterculius. Stercus means dung
Feces
Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
. This name was given to this genus because of the foul-smelling flowers and leaves of some Sterculia species.
It produces flowers in short dense panicles which occur at the ends of the branches. The flowers are orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...
-red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
in colour and hang downwards. The flowering stalks together with flowers are covered with fine downy hairs giving the whole inflorescence a soft, velvety look. During flowering phase, the Scarlet Sterculia is quite prominent and presents a brilliant sight because of its orange-red flowers against a leafless state.
The flowers are large, 30 mm long. The flower tube is 13 mm long, tubular
Tubular
Tubular may refer to:*the form of a cylinder or tube*Tubular, a television-related entertainment blog on the Houston Chronicle website*Tubular, a level in the video game Super Mario World...
at the base and lobed at the tip. Its rim is surrounded by white soft hair. The corolla looks like it is united inside with the tubular sepals at the base. From the centre of the calyx tube, a staminal column protrudes bearing at its summit 30 anthers.
Scarlet Sterculia is common in the forests of the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
and the Deccan.