Kadamba (Neolamarckia cadamba)

The Kadamba tree also known common bur-flower tree is a  deciduous, fast growing tree with long, stiff, spreading branches which diverge at right angles to the trunk. It is mainly grown for it’s glossy leaves and flowers clustered in woolly balls and is often mistaken for the Brindavan tree. The Kadamba tree is native to moist deciduous and evergreen forests in North India and will not survive in hot dry Brindavan forests.

Since the tree grows at a fast pace, it has the ability to colonize fresh forest clearings or vacant grounds. The Kadamba can grow on alluvial soil in damp places, or along rivers and on swampy grounds provided it is well drained. Apart from being found in the sub-Himalayan region and low hills from Nepal, this rapid growing tree is also found in places in Central India like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and the Western Ghats.

Now that we know about the structure & habitat of the tree, let’s get into the details of this magnificent tree. While observing the Kadamba tree, have you ever found it hard to distinguish the flower and fruit of the tree? The reason why it’s confusing to tell the difference is because the fruit retains the shape of the round flower heads, but is more orange than the flower. Amazing, isn’t it?


Kadamba flower. (Photo credits: Karthikeyan S)

The flowers consist of individual, tiny, deep yellow or orange round heads which are clustered together to form a ball like flower which is about the size of an undernourished orange (like seen in the picture above). There are white stigmas that stick out like little threads, giving the flower the woolly affect. The individual fruit capsules are packed tightly together and the seeds are mostly dispersed by bats.
If you have Kadamba as your tree, you might have noticed half eaten fruits lying around the tree. These are mostly eaten by bats.
 
If you observe the leaves of the tree closely, you will notice that they have prominent secondary veins and the texture of the upper surface is smooth and shiny as compared to the lower surface. A pair of leaves are arranged opposite to each other and each pair is set at right angles to the pair immediately above and below it.

Have you ever compared the bark of a young Kadamb tree, to that of an old one? Apart from the obvious height of the tree, the texture of the bark is the other way of telling the approximate age of the tree. As the tree grows older, the bark becomes rougher due to vertical cracks on the bark.

The fruits are eaten either raw or cooked and the leaves are cut off for fodder. The fragrance of the flower is used in temples, although that maybe because the tree might have been mistaken for the Brindavan tree which has religious significance to the Hindus. The bark is used for various traditional medicines like in the cure for coughs and inflammation of the eye. The timber is used for making boards, plywood and packing cases. 
 

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Recap February & March 2015

A hearty welcome to new SeasonWatchers from February & March!
New friends
Individuals: P Sri Harini, Radhika, Sangay Pelzang & Ashish Agrahari
School: Swami Vivekananda Higher Secondary School & NHS Narokkavu.
Most Reported Trees: Rain Tree (Samanea saman), Airi Mango (Magnifera indica), False Ashoka (Polyalthia longifolia), Gulmohar (Delonix regia) & Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
Total number of Observations in February & March: 2756
Total trees observed in February & March: 615
Total observations in the SW database as of March: 65128