Calotropis gigantea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Calotropis gigantea | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Calotropis gigantea (L.) W.T.Aiton |
Calotropis gigantea (Crown flower) is a species of Calotropis, native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and China.
It is a large shrub growing to 4 m tall. It has clusters of waxy flowers that are either white or lavender in colour. Each flower consists of five pointed petals and a small, elegant "crown" rising from the centre, which holds the stamens. The plant has oval, light green leaves and milky stem.
The flowers last long, and in Thailand they are used in various floral arrangements. They were also supposed to be popular with the Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani, who considered them as symbol of royalty and wore them strung into leis. In India, the plant is common in the compounds of temples. The fruit is a follicle and when dry, seed dispersal is by wind. This plant plays host to a variety of insects and butterflies.
