Cavanillesia umbellataBarrigona Tree

Cavanillesia umbellata is one of the great swollen-trunked trees of the western Amazon, a soft-wooded relative of the baobabs and kapoks whose barrel-shaped trunk is banded with visible growth rings. Mature trees reach well over twenty metres and drop their palmately lobed leaves through the dry season, leaving the trunk as the whole of the display.

It is grown as a curiosity and a landmark rather than as a working landscape tree, and it needs the space and the deep free-draining ground that a large soft-wooded species demands.

Specifications

• Height20 to 35 metres
• Width10 to 15 metres
• Native toThe western Amazon basin, in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil
• FoliagePalmately lobed leaves clustered towards the branch ends; deciduous through the dry season
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilRequires deep, free-draining soils; will not tolerate waterlogging
• LightFull sun
• WaterModerate; naturally deciduous through seasonal dry periods
• ClimateThrives in tropical regions with a defined dry season

Additional Features

• FlowersSmall pink to white flowers borne in clusters, followed by large winged fruit
• UsesLandmark and specimen planting on large open sites, botanic collections and arboreta
• SpacingSet as an individual specimen with at least 15 metres of clear ground
• Low MaintenanceLittle intervention needed, though the soft wood is vulnerable to mechanical damage
• Pest ResistanceNo significant pest problems recorded in cultivation
• FormMassive barrel-shaped trunk with a sparse, high, spreading crown

The Barrigona Tree is a landmark specimen for large tropical sites where a single tree is meant to carry the composition.