Freshwater Mangrove Tree

Barringtonia acutangula

Beng: Hijal

A mid-sized handsome evergreen native tree with spreading branches with large smooth leaves clustered at the end of the branches. In April pendulous red or pink flowers make it a beautiful and conspicuous tree

Bark: dark brown, rugged with vertical fissures

Leaf: Obovate (egg-shaped, widest near tip), glossy, up to 5’’ long, finely toothed, narrows gradually towards the very short stalk.

Flower: In long (6 – 15’’) pendulous vertical spikes, red or pink

Fruit: Smooth about 3 cm long squarish in cross section

Season: The new foliage is mostly produced in March and April and flowering starts from Mid April

Range/habitat: Has a very large global distribution from Afghanistan to Northern Australia covering south and south-east Asia. In India it is widely spread including lower Bengal.  In its wild state the tree usually grows on the banks of streams and ditches.

Trivia and notes: A favorite of poet Jibanananda Das & Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay. This used to be a major natural tree of non-saline marshy land of Bengal.

Where to Find: There is quite a few in Rabindra sarobar, Kolkata. The one that is labelled is near the junction of the road that runs between the Padma pukur and Anderson club tank with the main road that runs beside the main lake. GPS: 22.51131N, 88.36272E