Campus Greenery – Crateva unilocularis (樹頭菜)

Crateva unilocularis, also named Spider Tree, withstands wind well and grows at any altitude. Flowers appear from February to April. During the flowering period, it has a wide-spreading crown and blooms abundance of flowers. Therefore, it is extensively planted as a roadside tree in Hong Kong.

Its flowers consist of 4 round petals, and they cluster at the ends of the branches. The flowers are white in the initial stage but turn yellow in the late stage. Its long and red filaments stretch out from the flowers which are similar to the spider legs, and this is also why it is named as ‘Spider Tree’.

The leaves of Spider Tree can strengthen the stomach. In Yunnan of China, people use its young leaves on treetop for preserved vegetables. On the other hand, the wood of Spider Tree can be used for musical instruments and woodcrafts while the peels can be used for dyeing.