Tree Tale - Syringe Tree | Kannada
Channel: Arvind Gupta
Date: 2015-02-22

Rare is a tree which has so many names. The Syringe Tree has a Botanical name which is Spathodia campanulata. Spathodia refers to the flowers which are like spathes – like ladles and campanulata means the bell shaped corolla. It is also called the Fountain Tree, Squirt Tree and the Syringe Tree. It is basically an African Tree which can be found in many parts of India. This tree was first introduced in Sri Lanka in 1873. On the crown of the tree you can see red scarlet flowers. And many bees and birds visit the tree. It is a tall tree – often attaining a height of 70-80 ft. The tree grows well along Indian roads. Why is its name the Syringe Tree? On opening a ripe bud you will see the red corolla inside. The raw buds are full of water under pressure. On nipping the bud and squeezing it a lot of water will squirt out. Hence it’s various names - Fountain Tree, Squirt Tree and the Syringe Tree. This is the specialty of this tree. On nipping and squeezing the bud a fountain of water squirts out. It is a very pretty and ornamental roadside tree. See once again how the water gushes out of the bud. Children love this activity. Here you can see a group of students enjoying squirting water at each other. This work was supported by IUCAA and Tata Trust. This film was made by Ashok Rupner TATA Trust: Education is one of the key focus areas for Tata Trusts, aiming towards enabling access of quality education to the underprivileged population in India. To facilitate quality in teaching and learning of Science education through workshops, capacity building and resource creation, Tata Trusts have been supporting Muktangan Vigyan Shodhika (MVS), IUCAA's Children’s Science Centre, since inception. To know more about other initiatives of Tata Trusts, please visit www.tatatrusts.org