Medicinal Plants Home Page Banyan Birthwort Curare vine Ginger Kapok Lime Neem Nutmeg Pineapple Powder–puff plant Quinine tree Turmeric Wild Plum More Information Download Brochure William L. Brown Center for Plant Genetic Resources

Powder-puff tree Barringtonia racemosa Lecythidaceae, the brazil nut family Native to the Old World tropics

Most parts of this plant are used medicinally. Different groups use it to treat many diseases, including malaria, high blood pressure, cough, diarrhea, chicken pox, and cancer. It contains compounds that inhibit cancer and relieve pain. Some people eat the leaves and seeds as food, even though the seeds can also be used as fish poison.

Powder-puff tree needs lots of water! It often lives near mangroves, which you can see elsewhere in the Climatron.