TopTropicals Plant Catalog

This catalog is for information only. If you don't see the price - the plant is not for sale.

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Valued as an ornamental plant, due to its colorful and attractive flowers. The leaves are alternate, rough, hairy, heart-shaped or 3-5 lobed with serrated margins. Flowers are Hibiscus-like.

Cultivated for aromatic oil from seeds. Young leaves, shoots, and unripe seedpods are cooked as a vegetable.

The Lilly Pilly is fairly hardy and needs only a subtropical climate to flourish. Protection should be given from long or hard freezes. Plants enjoy profuse amounts of water, but will grow in drier areas. They grow best in areas of light sun or shade. Flowers are small and fluffy, with a creamy, white color. Flowering is generally Spring, and is followed by large bunches of the fruit which ripen a couple of months later.

This is the kiwi fruit. The true Chinese gooseberry (A. sinensis) is native to China, but the fruit that we find at local markets, is from New Zealand. This lovely twiner with its fuzzy leaves, is ideal for trellis growing. The plant is a vigorous, woody vine (liana) or climbing shrub. This species is dioecious (separate male and female plants), so both male and female plants must be grown in order for proper pollination and fruiting to occur.

A medium-sized tree up to 15 m high, Adenanthera pavonina is native to India and Malaysia. It has been planted extensively throughout the tropics as an ornamental and has become naturalized in many countries.

The tiny flowers are said to smell vaguely like orange blossoms.

The slender flattened pods become twisted as they split open at maturity to release up to 12 brilliant red, lens - shaped, extremely hard seeds. The ripened pods stay on the tree for some time. The seeds are used in necklaces and ornaments, as beads in jewellery, leis and rosaries. They were also used in ancient India for weighing gold. The seeds are curiously similar in weight. Four seeds make up about one gramme. In fact the name "saga" is traced to the Arabic term for "goldsmith".

In Malaysia and Indonesia, the trees provide shade and planted as "nurse trees" in coffee, clove and rubber plantations.

Although the raw seeds are toxic, when cooked they are edible: are roasted, shelled and then eaten with rice in Java, Indonesia. In Melanesia and Polynesia people call it the "food tree". The seeds are said to taste like soy bean. The young leaves can be cooked and eaten, but usually only during famine.

The hard reddish wood of the red sandalwood tree is used for cabinet making. A red dye, obtained from the wood, is used by Brahmins to mark religious symbols on their foreheads. A red powder made from the wood is used as an antiseptic paste. In Ancient Indian medicine, the ground seeds are used to treat boils and inflammations. A decoction of the leaves is used to treat gout and rheumatism. The bark was used to wash hair.

This plant is a medium sized tree that grows up to 40ft.This plant is known to posses some medicinal properties. All parts of this tree including, the roots, leaves, trunk, fruits, and seeds, are used for curing one human ailment, or another. The fruits are usually eaten by people.They taste like marmalade, and smell like roses. They are also used in the preparation of many medicines in villages. These protein-rich fruits are also used in making some very good drinks. They can also make a wonderful jam. The plant easily withstands long periods of drought, which are needed for better fruit yields. It grows in most soil and climate types, and requires little care when established.