Common name: Torchwood

Torchwood is a small flowering tree native to India, its natural range extending from Bihar and West Bengal, in the northeast of the subcontinent, south through the Satapur Ranges to Sri Lanka. 

It is the tallest of the Ixora plant family and may reach heights up to 12 m (40 ft) in its natural habitat, though is more typically 5 to 10 m (16 to 32 ft) tall and develops a straight, slim trunk supporting a much-branched rounded crown. The bark is reddish-brown and peels off in irregular strips.

The leaves are oblong-oval, 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) long with a very short leaf stalk, dull dark green on top, pale green underneath and have a leathery texture. They are arranged in pairs along the branchlets and remain on the tree throughout the year.

From spring to summer, small pure white, sweetly scented, star-shaped flowers bloom densely packed on half-round clusters at the ends of the branchlets. They are followed in late summer to autumn by small, round berry-like fruit, 0.5 cm (0.2 in) in diameter, green when young, turning dark purple to near black when ripe.

Use

Its compact size, shapely form, lush green foliage and sweetly scented flowers has led to it being widely cultivated as an ornamental in its native range.

It produces a hard, heavy wood weighing up to 900 kgs per cubic meter (57 lbs per cubic ft), with finely grained, brown-yellow heartwood, but comes in logs too small to saw into lumber. It is most commonly used in its roundwood form for turnery and other woodcraft.

The fruit are harvested and eaten fresh in its native range but are reportedly barely edible and without any commercial value.

Climate

Grows naturally in sub-humid to moderately humid subtropical and tropical lowland to mid-elevation climates, generally frost-free areas with annual lows of 17 to 25°C, annual highs of 28 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 500 to 1500 mm and a dry season of 4 to 8 months.

Growing

New plants are usually started from seed, greenwood cuttings or suckers. Performs well in free-draining clay, loam or sand soils of a moderately acid to slightly alkaline nature, generally with a pH of 5.0 to 7.5 and on sites with full sun to light shade exposure.

Problem features

Birds eat the fruit and disperse the seed outside of cultivation and it is reported to sucker freely from the roots. It is listed as a weed in at least one reference publication, but there does not appear to be any record of it anywhere as a serious weed. It is assessed as a low weed risk for Hawaii, by the Hawaii Pacific Weed Risk Assessment (HPWRA) project.

Books

• Barwick, M., et al. 2004, Tropical & subtropical trees : a worldwide encyclopaedic guide, Thames and Hudson, London

• Dey, S.C. 1996, Fragrant flowers for homes and gardens, trade and industry, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, India

• Krishen, P. 2006, Trees of Delhi : a field guide, Dorling Kindersley Publishers, Delhi

• Martin, F. M., et al. 1987, Perennial edible fruits of the tropics : an inventory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, D.C.

• Randall, R. P. 2002, A global compendium of weeds, R.G. and F.J. Richardson Press, Melbourne

• Randall, R. P. 2007, The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status, Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management, Glen Osmond, South Australia

• Singh, R. V. 1982, Fodder trees of India, Oxford & IBH Publishing Company, New Delhi