Did you know that Nagalinga Pushpa or Canon Ball Tree Flower, though of Amazon Valley origin, is widely grown in India and offered in Hindu worship of Shiva as its five leafed petals resemble Naga, sacred snake, protecting a Shiva Lingam?

Nagalinga Pushpa or Canon Ball Tree Flower

Nagalinga Pushpa or Canon Ball Tree Flower with the botanical name Couroupita guianensis (credited to the French botanist Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet in 1775) in the flowering plant family of Lecythidaceae, known as harbinger of wealth and prosperity in Hindu beliefs, is native to the Amazon Valley in South America and to the west Indies. The migration of this species to South Asia, particularly to India, where it has attained spiritual significance as a special offering to the Hindu God Lord Shiva, is not clear but historians opine that there is clear evidence of the transfer of this species from Latin America to South Asia as far back as the pre-Columbian period (before 15th century). The tree yields fruits which are spherical in shape and hence called as Cannon Ball tree in English. The significance of its flowers as an offering to Lord Shiva is due to the fact that the flower is hooded with five petals (some times six) resembling the hood of a Naga or serpent, around its stamen which is considered as Shiva Linga.

The tree is planted in many botanical gardens in India as an ornamental and showy tree, and particularly around Lord Shiva temples in South India. Its flowers sacred in worship of Shiva is known in different languages of India as: Nagalinga Pushpa (ನಾಗಲಿಂಗ ಪುಷ್ಪ) in Kannada; Shiv Kamal or "Kailaspati" in Hindi; Nagalinga poo; Nagamalli flowers or Mallikarjuna flowers in Telugu. Orthodox Hindu also compare the five petals of the flower as representing the Panchamahabhutaas (bhūmi (earth), ap or jala (water), tejas or agni (fire), marut, vayu or pavan (air or wind) ann vyom or shunya (space or zero) or akash (aether or void).

It is a deciduous tree, grown in the tropics, of medium height with leaves occurring in clusters at the ends of branches. The leaves are oval, oblong, or broadly lance shaped; the leaf margins are smooth or finely toothed. Its flower has two areas of stamens: a ring of stamens at the center, and an arrangement of stamens that have been modified into a hood which appears like a hood of a serpent (Naga). The showy flowers are borne in racemes 60–90 cm long, grow straight from the trunk and have concave petals about 5 cm (2 inches) long. The scented flowers are yellow or red on the outside and crimson or lilac on the inside. The fruit, called the Cannon Ball, due its spherical in shape grows to 25 cm (10 inches) in diameter (grown in about a year or more), and is pulpy on the inside and contains many seeds (25 seeds). The hard shell is used locally to make utensils. Although the flowers lack nectar, they are very attractive to bees, which come for the pollen. Though it is an an evergreen, it loses all its leaves which appear again within a week. A single Cannon ball tree can bear 150 fruits and 1,000 flowers having a strong scent especially in the morning and at night. The fruit, though edible, is not usually eaten by people due to its unpleasant smell, even though the flower is highly scented. It is fed to livestock such as pigs and domestic fowl.

The Cannonball Tree, apart from its cultural and religious significance in India, is known for its many herbal medicinal usages. It is said to possesses antibiotic, antifungal, antiseptic and analgesic qualities. The tree barks are used to cure colds and stomach aches. Juice made from the leaves is used to cure skin diseases, and shamans of South America have even used tree parts for treating malaria. The inside of the fruit can disinfect wounds and young leaves ease toothache. In Ayurveda, the juice of the fruit is used as expectorant for bronchitis and chronic cough.