Dillenia Species, Chulta, Elephant Apple, Hondapara Tree

Very interesting and uncommon asiatic tree, reaching up to 40m tall, but starting to bloom when it's 4 or 5 m tall. The continuous trunk ...Read More(with significant branching only on the very top) is covered with a smooth, light brown bark. The alternate leaves are big, light green, and pleated, making the tree atractive as it is... if it wasn't by the flowers.

The flowers are huge. I mean, huge, reaching up to 20cm (around 9in) diameter. The floral buds come solitary on the leaf axils, and they are like big and heavy balls, closed by thick green sepals. The 5 petals are big too, white and thick. There are a lot of stamens distributed in 12 whorls around the ovarium, made of several carpels. Looking at the flower (almost always pendulous, due to the weight), you see several long stigmae, forming a white, star shaped structure in the middle of the flower. It has a sweet scent that atracts bees of all sorts, and last only one day. The fruit is covered by an yellow pulp and is edible. Each carpel has many seeds.

The flower and fruit are edible. Many parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes. It can be cultivated in many kinds of soil, but preffers acidic sandy loams. It likes full sun, high temperatures, and moderate moisture.