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Saraca indica
Also called Ashok, Asoca
In Singapore: Asoka Tree, Ashoka Tree, Sorrowless Tree, Gapis, 无忧树, 印度无忧树 (Grown in Singapore)
Saraca indica is an evergreen flowering tree from Southeast Asia, grown for its fragrant orange-yellow to red flower clusters. It grows large, so it suits gardens, parks and roadsides rather than small spaces.
Saraca indica, commonly known as the asoka tree, ashok or simply asoca, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Detarioideae. The species is native to most of Mainland Southeast Asia and Western Indonesia. It grows to a height of 20 metres (66 feet) and is known for its clusters of orange-yellow to red flowers. The original plant specimen from which Carl Linnaeus described the species came from Java, but the name S. indica has been generally incorrectly applied to S. asoca since 1869.
The tree is evergreen and may flower multiple times a year but is said to flower in February and fruit in May. It is biotically pollinated and attracts bees. S. indica grows best along streams in forests; it prefers full sun, moderate water and fertile, loamy, well-drained soils. The seeds are eaten by monkeys and squirrels.
S. indica is cultivated as an ornamental tree for its fragrant and showy flowers. It is considered suitable for roadsides as well as parks and gardens. The wood is sometimes used to make small utensils, pallets, veneer and plywood. In Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, people eat the flowers and leaves of one variety of the species. The flowers are said to taste sourish.
[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 Saraca indica 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.
