This is a rare tree whose flowers differ in scent and colour from other Cannonball Trees / Couroupita Guianensis. The tree profusely blooms out crimson flowers with a fruity fragrance reminiscences of bubblegum.

The tree has been introduced in to the Indian sub-continent by the British who sought it for its showy flowers. Locally known as Nagaling, the tree is now sacred to Shiva. Owing to its resemblance to a hood of a cobra, the flowers find are used as daily offering to Lord Shiva, with whom the symbology of the snake is closely associated.

Cannonball Trees find themselves amongst a large family of colonial imports that have firmly gotten naturalised into Indian culture.