Gmelina arborea Roxb.

Trees ca. 15 m tall; bark grayish brown; branchlets, petioles, and inflorescences densely yellow-brown tomentose. Branchlets slightly 4-angled when young, becoming terete, lenticellate, leaf scars prominent. Petiole terete, 3.5-10 cm; leaf blade broadly ovate, 8-19 X 4.5-15 cm, thickly papery, base broadly cuneate to subcordate, apex acuminate; veins 3-5 pairs, abaxially prominent. Inflorescences terminal, narrow thyrses; peduncle 15-30 cm. Calyx 3-5 mm, with several black discoid gland patches; teeth 5, sharply triangular. Corolla yellow, 3-4 cm, 2-lipped, sparsely glandular; lower lip 3-lobed, outside yellowish brown puberulent, inside glabrous; upper lip entire or slightly 2-cleft. Ovary glabrous, glandular. Stigma unequally 2-cleft. Drupes yellow when ripe and black when dry, ellipsoid to obovoid-ellipsoid, 1.5-2 cm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. May-Jul.

It is a tropical plant. It is native from Pakistan to Malaysia. It grows in Nepal to about 1100 m altitude. It grows in shady places. In India it grows in coastal regions and also in deciduous regions of central India. It needs a wet climate. It does best with a rainfall between 750-4,500 mm per year. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan.

The seeds are eaten. The fruit are eaten. They are also pickled. The flowers are mixed with glutinous rice to make a cake like dish. They are used for flavouring and colouring. The boiled flowers are fried and eaten.

Plants are grown by seed. It can also be grown by cuttings, budding or grafting. It is best to soak seeds for 24 hours before planting. Seeds germinate in 20-50 days. Seeds are sown in a nursery then transplanted.