Chakwa / Button tree

Anogeissus acuminata

Beng: Chakwa

 A tall evergreen native tree with slender drooping branches, thick dark grey longitudinally fissured bark, branchlets and undersides of mature leaves, and whole of new leaves covered with fine white downs; leaves small (1-3’’), almost oppositely arranged. Flowers minute, yellowish white, in small globular heads fruit is also similar, shiny.

Bark: Rough, dark grey, longitudinally fissured. Trunk is often crooked.

Leaf: 1-3’’, elliptical, sub-oppositely arranged ¼’’ long stalk usually pointed in both directions.

Flower: Not conspicuous. In dense small (1/2’’ to 2/3’’ diameter) spherical heads, yellowish white, slightly fragrant

Fruit: Crowded into the dense round head shiny with 2 narrow wing and a short beak at the apex

Season: Flowers in Feb-March fruits appear soon afterwards

Range/habitat: Eastern India, Myanmar

Trivia and notes: This beauty of this tree lies in its stately and graceful growth habit, somewhat like weeping willow. Honeybees congregate in great numbers while the tree is in flower. This tree must be long living (even in city pollution) as the tress described in Benthall (1946) are still there near the main entrance of Alipur zoo, hence must be well over 100 years old!

Where to Find: Very rare in Kolkata, Rabindra sarobar has only one, a mature tree in the south-western section of the lake (BRC side entrance). It is around 150 steps away from the main gate and is on the left-hand side near the main tar road (22.50939N,88.35673E)