Campus Greenery – Devil Tree (糖膠樹)

The Devil Tree (Scientific Name: Alstonia Scholaris) is an elegant evergreen tree, usually up to 20m tall and 10m wide in an urban setting, and reaches 50 - 60m height in native habitat. Its mature bark is grayish, and its young branches are copiously marked with lenticels. The flowers are very fragrant, and it flowers from August to November.

The species gets the name scholaris because its timber is traditionally taken for the making of wooden slates for school children. It is also known as Devil Tree as the plant is believed to the devil's abode - probably due to the intoxicating fragrance emitted by flowering trees, especially at night. Tribal people from the western coast of India are reluctant to sit or walk under Devil Tree as they consider the strong fragrance so inauspicious.