| Type | Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Family | Bignoniaceae |
| Synonym | Bignonia spathacea L.f |
| Synonym_2 | Dolichandrone rheedi (Spreng.) Seem. |
| Local Name | Neerpongiliyam |
| Habit | Medium sized tree |
| Botanical Features | Moderate sized deciduous trees, to 18 m high; bark greyish-brown; bole smooth. Leaves compound, imparipinnate opposite, estipulate; rachis 23-30 cm long, stout, glabrous; leaflets 5-9, opposite; petiolule upto 6 mm, stout, glabrous; lamina 7.5-15.2 x 2.5-7.5, rhomboid or ovate, elliptic, ovate-lanceolate; base oblique; apex acuminate; margin entire, glabrous and shiny. Flowers bisexual, white, 3-4 together on terminal short erect corymbs; calyx spathaceous, cleft to the base on one side, spathe acuminate at tip; corolla 10-18 cm long, tube long, slender below, widening half way to a funnel; lobes 5, 10 cm, spreading, crisped; stamens 4, didynamous, included; disc annular; ovary sessile; ovules many; style long; stigma 2 lobed. Fruit a capsule, to 45 x 2.5 cm, purplish-brown; seeds winged, flat, rectangular, 1.6 cm across. |