Barbados Blooms: Black Pearl Tree

The Black Pearl or Velvet-Seed Tree officially called The Mgambo Tree is a highly ornamental small tree that has shiny foliage and an attractive growth habit with a nice rounded canopy; this makes them well suited to small tropical gardens or as a beautiful container plant in cooler climates. Owing to its unique velvety black seeds, which are displayed like pearls in the bright red interior of its fruit pods these seeds, they are often used in artisan jewelry and the dried pods in the composition of bouquets and pot pourris.  At maturity these grow to about 15' tall and wide but will be smaller when container grown.

These beautiful trees can be seen scattered throughout Barbados, either wild or in house gardens. Have you ever spotted them?