Honduras or Large leaved Mahogany

Swietenia macrophylla

No local name

A tall evergreen tree from tropical Americas, has feather compound (paripinnate) leaves that are dark green when mature with a rough bark that flakes off in small patches.

Bark: Rough, flakes off in small patches

Leaf: Feather compound, without terminal leaflet 3-8 pairs. Leaflets shiny with pointed tip, up to 8’’.

Flower: Inconspicuous, greenish white borne in small open clusters among the leaves

Fruit: large, woody, club shaped capsule

Season: The new leaves mostly appear in March and the flowers in March and April. The very young leaves are usually reddish or pink in color.

Range/habitat: Native of tropical Latin America from Mexico to Brazil, it was brought to India (Calcutta) in 1872

Trivia and notes: This tree was identified as a separate species in Calcutta and since the seeds came from British Honduras it was named Honduras Mahogany.

Where to find: There a quite a few trees present in Rabindra sarobar compound but none are full grown yet (as of 2021). There is one half grown tree in the southern side of the lake at the T junction of the main road with the tar road that comes from lake garden side. It is at the corner of the ground that has lots of cement benches GPS: 22.510125, 88.36009