Calophyllum inophyllum
Calophyllum inophyllum flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Clusiaceae Genus: Calophyllum Species: C. inophyllum
Binomial name
Calophyllum inophyllum L.

Calophyllum inophyllum is a large evergreen tree in the family Clusiaceae, native from East Africa, southern coastal India to Malesia and Australia. It is called Ballnut or, confusingly, "Alexandrian Laurel" (it is not a laurel nor native to Alexandria). Nowadays it is widely cultivated in all tropical regions of the world, including several Pacific Islands. Because of its decorative leaves, fragrant flowers and spreading crown, it is best known as an ornamental plant. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families Family Achariaceae Family Balanopaceae Family Bonnetiaceae Family Caryocaraceae Family Chrysobalanaceae Family Clusiaceae Family Ctenolophonaceae Family Dichapetalaceae Family Elatinaceae Family Erythryloxaceae (coca family) Family Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) Family Euphroniaceae Family Goupiaceae Family Humiriaceae Family Hypericaceae (St Johns wort family) Family Irvingiaceae Family Ixonanthaceae Family Lacistemaceae Family Linaceae (flax family... Genera See text Clusiaceae is a family of plants including the over a thousand species of trees and shrubs, often with milky sap and fruits or capsules for seeds. ... Species See text The genus Calophyllum (beautiful leaf, from Greek kalos, beautiful, and phullon, leaf) is a taxon, composed exclusively of tropical evergreen trees, of the family Clusiaceae. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... A painting of Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné   listen?, and who wrote under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ... Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Genera See text Clusiaceae is a family of plants including the over a thousand species of trees and shrubs, often with milky sap and fruits or capsules for seeds. ... East Africa is a region generally considered to include: Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Tanzania Uganda [[Image:Example. ... Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. ... Some trees and shrubs in the laurel family Lauraceae are called Laurel: Bay laurel Laurus nobilis, the original true laurel that is the source of bay leaves used as a seasoning. ... Antiquity and modernity stand cheek-by-jowl in Egypts chief Mediterranean seaport Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, الإسكندرية, transliterated al-ʼIskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that countrys second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... The Pacific Ocean has an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 islands; the exact number is unknown. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... Wildflowers A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... An ornamental is a plant variety that is grown for its beauty (in its end use), rather than commercial or other value. ...

It is a low-branching and slow-growing tree with a broad and irregular crown. It usually reaches 8 to 20 m in height. The flower is 25 mm wide and occurs in racemose or paniculate inflorescences consisting of 4 to 15 flowers. Flowering can occur year-round, but usually two distinct flowering periods are observed, in late spring and in late autumn. The fruit (the ballnut) is a round, green drupe reaching 2 to 4 cm in diameter and having a single large seed. When ripe, the fruit is wrinkled and its color varies from yellow to brownish-red. This inflorescence of the terrestrial orchid Spathoglottis plicata is a typical raceme. ... White-fruited Rowan (Sorbus glabrescens) corymb; note the branched structures holding the fruits. ... An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers on a branch of a plant. ... The word spring has several meanings: spring (device), a common mechanical part. ... Autumn colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, England. ... The peach is a typical drupe (stone fruit) In botany, a drupe is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp or skin and mesocarp or flesh) surrounds a shell (the pit or stone) of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. ...

This tree often grows in coastal regions as well as nearby lowland forests. However it has also been cultivated successfully in inland areas at moderate altitudes. It tolerates varied kinds of soil, coastal sand, clay or even degraded soil. A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, an area set aside for hunting). ... For the heavy metal band see Soil (band) Soil is a general term for the material that lies on the surface of the earth, supporting the growth of plants and serving as a habitat for animal life from microrganisms to small animals. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is an example of a class of materials called granular matter. ... Clay is a generic term for an aggregate of hydrous silicate particles less than 4 μm (micrometres) in diameter. ...

Uses

Besides being a popular ornamental plant, its wood is hard and strong and has been used in construction or boatbuilding. The seeds yield a thick, dark green oil for medicinal use or hair grease.

The tree is regarded sacred in some Pacific islands.