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Cordia subcordata
Also called Beach Cordial, Island Walnut, Mareer, Marer, Sea Trumpet, Gerong Gang, Kerosene Tree
In Singapore: Sea Trumpet, Kerosene Tree, Beach Cordia, Kou (Native to Singapore, Critically Endangered)
Cordia subcordata is a coastal tree of the Cordiaceae family, native to the Indian Ocean and Pacific shores and grown for shade and timber. It thrives in full sun, moist, well-drained soil near the sea, and warm tropical conditions.
Cordia subcordata is a species of flowering tree in the family Cordiaceae. It can be found growing in eastern Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The plant is known by a variety of names, including kou, beach cordia, sea trumpet, and kerosene wood.
C. subcordata has a very wide range from the east coast of Africa east throughout tropical Asia and Oceania, as far as Hawaii. This distribution arose from the special characteristics of its fruit, which allowed successful oceanic dispersal. Prior to 2001, C. subcordata was considered to be a Polynesian introduction to Hawaii by many authorities, but subfossil evidence from Makauwahi Cave in Kauai indicates that it was an abundant species in Hawaiian lowland forests well before humans arrived, confirming its status as an indigenous species.
The seeds are edible and have been eaten during famine.
Spanish elm · Glue berry tree · Largeleaf geigertree · Mucilage manjack · Cordia
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cordia subcordata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
