Common Name: Bird’s cherry, Singapore cherry. Tamil Name: Ten pazham, Chakkarai pazham
Singapore cherry is an exotic tree to India (native of tropical America); it grows to a height of about 8 meters. The plant is commonly seen in home gardens, road-sides and farm lands in Tamilnadu. The tree has a circular crown-often used in rural areas as shade tree. The plant is densely villous. Leaves are arranged alternatively in distichous manner. The leaf stalk measure around 1 cm and leaf length 7.3 cm. The leaf shape is oblong and is obliquely cordate at base, the leaf apex is acuminate. The leaf margin is dentate. The inflorescence is axillary-two to three flowering buds are produced at each such axis. The pedicel is 1.5 cm and villous. The flower is white in color and is around 2 cm broad. The sepals are lanceolate and five in number and appear in star shape and are longer than the petals. The stamens are several in numbers and are filamentous. The fruit is in the form of a reddish berry, sub-globular in shape measuring around 1.2 cm. They enclose several tiny seeds. The fruits are edible and are consumed by rural folks. In its native country, this tree find several uses, such as fuel wood, fiber for making ropes and the fruit is converted into jam. Although an exotic, the fruits are a favorite with birds, especially the Flower peckers.
