Botanical Name / Parmentiera cereifera Seem.

A small to medium-sized evergreen tree, usually 5–10 m tall, with a short trunk and a broad, rounded crown. The bark is greyish-brown and smooth to slightly fissured with age. Leaves are opposite or borne in clusters on short shoots, trifoliolate; leaflets are elliptic to ovate, 5–15 cm long, with entire margins, an acute to acuminate apex, and a glossy dark green upper surface. The tree is distinctly cauliflorous, producing solitary or clustered, large tubular flowers directly on the trunk and older branches. The flowers are greenish-white to creamy-white, often marked with purple or reddish streaks within the corolla, and are pollinated mainly by nocturnal animals such as bats. The fruit is highly distinctive, long, cylindrical, smooth, and pendulous, measuring 30–100 cm in length and 2–4 cm in diameter, resembling wax candles hanging from the trunk. The fruits are initially green, becoming yellowish with maturity, and contain numerous flattened seeds embedded in a soft, fleshy pulp. The species is easily recognized by its cauliflorous habit and its exceptionally long, candle-like fruits, making it a striking ornamental tree in tropical botanical gardens and landscapes.

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