Sterculia africana (Lour.) Fiori

 
  • Family : STERCULIACEAE
    (Sterculia Or Cocoa Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : COCOA FAMILY
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Malvaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Clompanus africana (Lour.) Kuntze; Sterculia triphaca R.Br.; Triphaca africana Lour.; Clompanus arabica (T.Anderson) Kuntze; Sterculia abyssinica R.Br.; Sterculia africana var. socotrana (K.Schum.) Fiori; Sterculia arabica T.Anderson; Sterculia guerichii K.Schum.; Sterculia ipomoeifolia Garcke; Sterculia triphaca var. guerichii K.Schum.; Sterculia triphaca var. socotrana K.Schum.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Sterculia africana (Lour.) Fiori
  • Common name : African star chestnut, Tick tree, Umbrella tree
  • Habit : Tree
  • Habitat : Cultivated
  • Key identification features : Deciduous tree, 10–15 meters tall, with a thick, fluted trunk; Branches erect, spread to form a rounded crown; Bark initially smooth and shiny white, later flaking irregularly into patches, revealing a mosaic of purple, green, white, and brown underbark; Leaves clustered near branch tips, deeply lobed, over 10cm across, petiole reach 10cm in length, lobes pointed; Flowers appear on bare branches before leaves emerge, in branched inflorescences up to 9 cm long, unisexual flowers; Perianth sepals only, green-yellow with red honey-guide lines inside, up to 2.5 cm across; Fruit 1-5 woody, beaked follicles, covered with yellow hairs, only one side opens to release 3–10 fat, blue-grey seeds that dangle like ticks from the edge, irritating hairs present between seeds.
  • Flower, Fruit : April-November
  • Distribution :
    • Tamil Nadu : Chennai district
    • West Bengal : West Bengal
    • Delhi : Delhi
  • Native : Angola, Botswana, Caprivi Strip, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Oman, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : NE. Tropical Africa, Tanzania to Namibia, S. Arabian Peninsula
  • Literature :
    • Narasimhan, D. & Irwin, Sheeba. (2021). Flowering Plants of Tamil Nadu: A Compendium.
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Sterculia africana
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Sterculia africana. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution

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