Couroupita Guianensis, Cannonball Tree

Couroupita guianensis, whose common names include Ayahuma and the Cannonball Tree, is an evergreen tree allied to the Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa), and is native to tropical northern South America and to the southern Caribbean. In India it has been growing for the past two or three thousand years at least, as attested by textual records; hence it is possible that it is native to India also. It's part the family Lecythidaceae and grows up to 25m (82ft) in height. The "Cannonball Tree" is so called because its brown cannon-ball-like fruits. The majority these trees outside their natural environment have been planted as a botanical curiosity, as they grow very large, distinctive flowers. Its flowers are orange, scarlet and pink in color, and form large bunches measuring up to 3m in length. They produce large spherical and woody fruits ranging from 15 to 24cm in diameter, containing up to 200 or 300 seeds apiece.
Discovery
The Cannonball Tree was given its species name Couroupita guianensis by the French botanist J.F. Aublet in 1755.