Barringtonia Species, Sea Poison Tree

Very slow-growing in Miami...but it has attractive leaves. It's a manageable tree in our climate zone and does well in our sandy soils wh...Read Moreen kept moist and fertilized...but it hates the cold and will resent being in an area exposed to cold winter winds.

Per Irene Ngoo at Min's Garden @tropicaljungle in Singapore:
"Barringtonia asiatica, also commonly known as fish poison tree or se...Read Morea poison tree, is a species of Barringtonia native to mangrove habitats on the tropical coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia. It is a common plant in the Malaysian Mangroves and wetlands such as the Kuching wetlands and Bako National Park. The seed pod is known as Box Fruit due its distinct box shape. The fruit is dispersed in the same way as a coconut – by ocean current – and is extremely water-resistant and buoyant. It can survive afloat for up to 15 years. Its large pinkish-white, pompon flowers give off a sickly sweet smell to attract bats and moths which pollinate the flowers at night. All parts of the tree are poisonous, the active poisons including saponins. Box fruits are potent enough to be used as a fish poison. The seeds have been used ground to a powder to stun or kill fish for easy capture, suffocating the fish where the flesh is unaffected."

This tree is extremely attractive so are the flowers which are strewn every morning like a magic carpet across the ground (sand) but. How...Read Moreever for me the biggest plus is the heavenly evening scent it produces from those nocturnal flowers which almost defines some of our worlds most gorgeous coastal areas. It's the sweet smell of long, salty, warm evenings listening to the waves. Definitely one to try even inland as long as you dont have much altitude. Mixing dolomite into the ground helps keep up the PH as they prefer alkaline conditions and sandy soils. They are particularly attractive as saplings producing huge glass shiny dark green leaves, the new ones a deep glistening oiled purple maroon on a very upright sturdy single trunk. Quite magnificent and eye catching. Pure unbridled, fecund tropical essence. A lovely smallish spreading shade tree essentially for the tropics as they dont like much bellow 10- 15%c for longer than a few short days at a time.

In my experience, this plant can also be propagated by cuttings. You just cut at least twelve inches below a growing branch, making sure ...Read Morethere are nodes that will be buried below the surface, from which new roots can emerge.