Sterculia excelsa Mart.

A tree. It grows 33 m tall. The trunk is 40-60 cm across. It loses many leaves during the year. The leaves are entire but have 3 lobes on young trees. The flower arrangement is covered with downy hairs. The fruit is a many seeded dry fruit. There are 1 or 2 sections that are kidney shaped. These are 5 cm long by 3.3 cm wide and green but with a brown covering. There are 3-4 seeds in each section. The seeds are embedded in golden yellow prickly hairs.

Tablelands in upland rainforests and in moist, Atlantic coastal forests. Rainforests, especially marshy, riverine, creek and ridge forests.

The seeds are eaten after roasting.

Plants can be grown from fresh seed. Seeds sprout in 30-40 days. Scratching the seed coat can assist germination. They germinate best with a temperature between 20-30°C.