Sea Poison Tree
Barringtonia asiatica
Sea Poison Tree is a small to medium-sized
tree growing to 7–25 m tall. It has large leaves held in rosettes at the
ends of branches. The leaves are narrow obovate, 20–40 cm long and
10–20 cm broad. The young leaves are a beautiful bronze with pinkish
veins. Old leaves turn yellowish.
Barringtonia asiatica is a species of Barringtonia native to
mangrove habitats on the tropical coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean
and western Pacific Ocean from Zanzibar east to Taiwan, the Philippines.Sea Poison Tree is a beach tree native of Asia and Australia. Sandy
beaches and coastal regions with a dash of salt in the soil is the ideal
place for these trees to grow best.
This species is included in the Global Compendium of Weeds (Randall, 2012), and at present it has only been listed as invasive for the Dominican Republic (Kairo et al., 2003). However, considering that B. asiatica has a great dispersal capability and its fruits can remain viable and floating on the sea for many months, the likelihood of reaching and colonizing new coastal areas is high.
This species is included in the Global Compendium of Weeds (Randall, 2012), and at present it has only been listed as invasive for the Dominican Republic (Kairo et al., 2003). However, considering that B. asiatica has a great dispersal capability and its fruits can remain viable and floating on the sea for many months, the likelihood of reaching and colonizing new coastal areas is high.
Sources : Google Images & Wikipedia
