Cordia sebestena

[Devendra Bhardwaj]

Family: Ehretiaceae 

Name: लाल लसोड़ा

Species: Cordia sebestena

Date: Jun 28, 2007

Place: Smriti Van, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Jhalana Doongri, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Note: Common Hindi Names:Lal Lasora (लाल लसोड़ा)Bhookamp Tree (भूकंप पेड़)Rakta Digori (रक्त दिगोरी)DescriptionHabit: A small to medium-sized evergreen tree or large shrub, typically growing up to $4\text{ to }8\text{ meters}$ in height.Foliage: Leaves are dark green, oval-shaped, large, and distinctly rough or sandpapery to the touch (ovate with an entire or wavy margin).Flowers: Its most striking feature is the clusters of brilliant, trumpet-shaped, fiery orange-to-scarlet flowers that bloom in terminal cymes. It flowers sporadically throughout the year, with a peak during the warmer months.Fruit: Produces small, egg-shaped, white, mucilaginous (gummy) drupes when ripe, which are encased in a persistent calyx.Distribution in RajasthanWhile Cordia sebestena (commonly known as the Geiger Tree) is native to the American tropics (the Caribbean and Florida), it is widely naturalized and cultivated across India.Urban and Ornamental Settings: In Rajasthan, it is primarily found planted in public parks, botanical gardens, and as an avenue tree along roadsides in major urban and semi-urban centers like Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Kota.Ecological Adaptation: Due to its high drought tolerance and adaptability to poor, sandy soils, it survives well in the arid and semi-arid climates of Rajasthan once established. It prefers full sunlight and well-drained soils, making it an excellent choice for urban xeriscaping in the state.abundance in the moist valleys and hilly terrain of Sariska, making the north-eastern Aravalli extension a key micro-habitat for the species.Southern & South-Eastern Deciduous Tracts: It is frequently recorded as a companion species in the dry deciduous forest ecosystems dominated by Anogeissus pendula (Dhok), Boswellia serrata (Salar), and Lannea coromandelica (Gurun). This includes parts of the Udaipur Division and the transition zones into the Malwa plateau (such as Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh, and Banswara), where the moisture regime during and post-monsoon supports its striking late-season flowering.Current Conservation Status in the State: Although it adapts well to stony, well-drained slopes, extensive field observations indicate that Kydia calycina has become increasingly rare and localized across Rajasthan's landscape due to habitat fragmentation and pressures on understory vegetation.

[Devendra Bhardwaj]