The Big Leafed Mahogany tree, also known by many other common names like American Mahogany or Sky Fruit, is scientifically known as Swietenia macrophylla and is a member of the Meliaceae family.
It is an evergreen tree originating from tropical America, named after 18th century Dutch botanist and physician, Gerald van Swieten. It is one of the oldest cultivated trees commonly grown in Singapore as roadside tree and is highly valued for its hardwood timber used in furniture making.
The tree can reach a height of 35-40 meters . Its bark changes from smooth and grey in young trees to dark brown, ridged, and flaky in mature trees. The tree has large, pinnately compound leaves with dark green, asymmetric, sickle-shaped leaflets. The leaves are arranged in whorls, giving it a bushy appearance. The leaflets that change from pink or red when young to dark green when mature.
The tree produces small, fragrant, greenish-white flowers in inflorescences called panicles. The flowers smell somewhat like jasmine.
Flowering mahogany trees have male and female flowers (about 10 times as many male as female flowers, but the flowers of both sexes are similar with 5 petals. The ovary is superior. Trees are sometimes functionally dioecious.
Its fruits are dry, hard, woody capsules up to 40 cm long, which split open to release numerous winged brown seeds dispersed by the wind. The fruits point skywards and hence the common name Sky Fruit.
The Mahogany tree is the 3rd most commonly cultivated tree by NParks in Singapore, with 9 individuals listed as heritage trees. While the seeds have been traditionally used in Chinese medicine for treating several aliments, especially diabetes , their consumption has been cautioned by the Health Science Authority due to reported cases of liver injuries.
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Plants of Singapore
