Mesua or Ceylon ironwood is an ornamental and timber tree originating in the south-west and north-east of India, extending into Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
It is a slow-growing tree, to heights of up 30 m (98 ft) under favourable conditions with a straight trunk and buttresses at the base of large trees, though is more typically 10 to 20 m (30 to 60 ft) tall. In young trees, the crown is pyramidal-shaped, neat and low-branching. As the tree ages, the lower branches shed and the crown becomes more rounded. The bark grey, on young trees smooth, giving way to peeling bark as the tree ages.
Leaves lance-shaped, 7 to 12 cm (3 to 5 in) long and remain on the tree throughout the year. When the new leaves emerge they are a brilliant red, in spectacular flushes triggered by rising humidity. They give the appearance from a distance of a tree in full bloom. As they age their bright red colour fades to pink, then they become dark glossy green.
The flowers are four-petaled, 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 4 in) wide, white with yellow centres and sweetly fragrant. They bloom from winter to spring, coinciding with the dry season in its native range, and are followed by small egg-shaped, woody seed capsules with a pointed tip and one to four oily seed inside.
It is an outstanding ornamental with its neat, shapely form, brilliant red foliage and large fragrant flowers. It is often planted as a street or avenue tree in its native range.
Mesua produces a heavy reddish-brown wood, in the 800 to 900 kgs per cubic meter (50 to 56 lbs per cubic ft) range with high natural resistance to rot and decay, making it fit for indoor and outdoor construction. The sawn timber is used in heavy construction, including boat and bridge building and for making crossties or sleepers for railway tracks. The roundwood is shaped into tool handles.
On cold mechanical pressing, the seed yields up to 70% of a dark brown, viscid oil. It has an unpleasant aroma that is removed by refining and is used in making soap and lubricants, and long ago as an illuminant for lamps and lanterns.
Grows naturally in humid tropical lowland to mid-elevation climates, generally areas with annual lows of 18 to 24°C, annual highs of 27 to 33°C, annual rainfall of 1500 to 5500 mm and a dry season of 6 months or less. It reaches its best development in areas with annual rainfall of 2000 mm or more.
New plants are started from seed or cuttings grown in a humid, misted environment. The seed are extracted from fruit that have been left out in the sun to split then shade-dried. The only remain viable for a short time, needing to be sown soon after extraction from the fruit.
It performs best on free-draining clay and loam soils of a moderately acid to neutral nature, generally with a pH of 5.0 to 7.0, and on sites with full to partial sun exposure.
There does not appear to be any records of it escaping cultivation and naturalising anywhere. It is assessed as a low weed risk species for Hawaii by the Hawaii Pacific Weed Risk Assessment (HPWRA) project.
The resin exude is reported to be toxic to humans if ingested.
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