Barringtonia acutangula
Barringtonia acutangula is a deciduous tree that grows to about 5–15 m tall. Its trunk is often twisted or unevenly swollen, and the tips of the branches usually hang down. The young leaves are brownish to dark red. The leaves are simple, arranged in a spiral, and clustered near the ends of the shoots. The leaf blade is lance-shaped to egg-shaped, with a pointed tip and base, and finely toothed edges. During the flowering season, the tree often loses much of its older leaves, leaving the noticeable reddish young leaves that make it look more attractive.
The flower clusters grow at the ends of the branches as hanging racemes about 30–40 cm long. Each flower has 4 sepals that stay attached even while the fruit develops. The petals are short, divided into 4 lobes at the tip, and fall off easily. The flowers are red to pink and are about 2 cm across when fully open. They have many thin pink to red stamens, which are the most noticeable part of the flower. When many flowers bloom at the same time, the tree looks very attractive. This effect is even more striking because the tree is often almost leafless at flowering, with only the bright red young shoots left.
Barringtonia acutangula
A beautiful form of Barringtonia acutangula on our farm.
