Common Name: Beach cordia.
Beach cordia is found in coastal areas of Africa and coastal areas of Asia. This tree grows to a height of about 8-10 meters and form a canopy of around 10 meters in circumference. The bark of the tree is light brown in color, young branches are lenticulate. The simple leaves are arranged in an alternate manner; leaf margin is entire; leaf on both surfaces are smooth. The leaf stalk and leaf length measure around 11.5 cm and 21.5 cm respectively. The leaves are ovate in shape with an acuminate tip and a cuneate base. The inflorescence is mostly in the form of an axillary cyme. The five parted flower fuses to form a tubular flower of orange color; petals look wrinkled; the flower tube measure around 1.9 cm, the flower measurers around 4 cm across. The flower encloses 8 stamens, which are purple in color. The fruit is in the form of woody round shaped hard nut. In the case of C sebestena the upper leaf surface has a sand paper like feel, in Beach cordia the leaf surface on both sides are smooth. In the case of C sebestena mature fruit are seen in white color, in the case of Beach cordia the mature fruit is brown in color. Beach cordia wood is used as timber; other applications include extraction of fiber and dye. The fruit is considered edible. Beach cordia is a rare tree in Tamil Nadu. I have seen only one such tree-being located in Race course area of Coimbatore.
