Naval (Cutnut)
- Naval have a life span of 80 to 90 years.
- Birds and flying foxes feed on the fruits and nectar of the flowers.
- This tree provides a good wildlife habitat for nesting birds.
- Bees forage on the flowers and act as pollinators. Moths and bats are also pollinators of this species.
- Fallen kernels and mesocarps are food for some freshwater fish and prawns.
- Almost every part of the tree has a traditional use.
Barringtonia edulis
The Naval is endemic to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. It is a medium sized tree with a vigorous framework of branches. It typically grows to 8 to 10 m but can grow up to 24 m in height. Most trees have a clear trunk up to one fifth of the tree height which is greyish-brown in colour. It has an extensive framework of branches that have regular fork following the formation of terminal flower clusters. The ‘flowers’ are part of a long hanging spike with over 100 densely packed flower buds, arranged in a spiral pattern. Almost every part of the plant has a traditional use.
Leaves
Leaves are large, simple, lanceolate (pointed at both ends) and are arranged clusters at the ends of the branches. The leaf size varies but is typically 21 to 66 cm long and 5 to 25 cm wide. The upper surface is a glossy dark green and the lower surface is slightly paler. The margins are undulated. Leaf veins are prominent and have a pattern of interlacing lines forming a net or web.
Flowers
A 30 to 110 cm long dangling spike contains up to 150 densely packed flower buds, arranged in spirally alternate pattern. The flowers varying in colour from green to white or red.
Fruit
The fruits are berry-like with short dense hairs. They are elongated, oblong to egg-shaped that taper towards the apex and base. They start as greyish-green and become reddish or purplish as they ripen. The typical length of a mature fruit is 25 – 99 mm. Fruits in Vanuatu are longer and more cylindrical than those in the Solomon Islands.
- First fully open flower
- Less than half the tree is in full flower
- More than half the tree is in full flower
- All of the tree is in full flower
- No flowering
- Less than half the tree has fruit
- More than half the tree has fruit
- All of the tree has fruit
- No fruit
- Green fruit present
- Ripened fruit present
When to Look
- Year round
- Fruiting can occur continuously throughout the year or at several times of the year.
Where to Look
- Navel grows in humid tropical rainforest near the coast and below 600 m in elevation.
- It prefers to grow in areas with uniform annual rainfall of 1500 to 4300 mm.
- It is commonly found near inland and coastal rural villages and is grown in home gardens and coconut plantations.
Similar Species
Barringtonia edulis, very similar to B. procera (also known as Cutnut). However, B. procera has glossy leaves, very short to leaf stems and short to no individual flower stalks. Barringtonia novae-hiberniae (Pao Nut) has simple, near-entire leaves. However, there is much overlap between the first two species.
