Tropical Plant Database - Plant Details

Michelia, known by the scientific name Michelia champaca, is a very tall tree that grows up to 30 m tall. The young branches are covered with grey hairs. The leaves are ovate in shape and are up to 30.5 cm long and 10.2 cm wide narrowing to a fine point at the apex. Small bracts, known as stipules, are present on the leaf stalk of the alternately arranged leaves. The flowers are pale yellow to orange and fairly large growing up to 5.1 cm in diameter. They are also very fragrant and when a Michelia tree is in flower the fragrance produced is noticeable some distance from the tree. The flowers have 15 tepals that curve up towards the tips and many stamens (pollen producing structures). The fruit of Michelia is made up of up to 3-20 brown follicles that are dry at maturity and split open at one side. Each follicle contains 2-6 reddish seeds.

(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.)

Michelia is a timber producing tree and the fine grain wood is used for the construction of buildings, furniture, toys, and carvings. The wood is also utilized in the production of packing cases, crates, tea chests and as plywood. The wood is strong and moderately durable. Perfume is produced from the essential oils extracted from the fragrant flowers and the flowers are often worn as an adornment strung in leis or in the hair. The bark is also aromatic and is often found as an adulterant in cinnamon.

Michelia champaca is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists and it is often planted in temple grounds and around homes. Bead chains are made from the wood. Michelia is found in sacred groves in the state of Tamil Nadu in southwestern India. These sacred groves are maintained by Malayali and Paliyani tribal communities. Scared groves are fragments of vegetation within an otherwise agricultural landscape that have been maintained with their native plants for their recognized significance to one or many deities and for the connection of the communities to both the diety and nature. Small shrines are maintained within the groves. The larger sacred groves may provide refugia for native organisms, including plants and animals.

(Hossain, M.K. and M.Z.U. Nizam. 2005. Michelia champaca L. in Vozzo, J. A. (ed.), Tropical Tree Seed Manual. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 572-575.)
(Neal, M.C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, HI.)
(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.)
(Thomas, D.W., E.D.I. King, J. Soundrapandi, and D. Narasimhan. Evolution of livelihood strategies among geographically isolated hill tribes of south India.)

Michelia champaca is native to India, where it occurs in humid tropical evergreen forests from 250-1500 m in elevation. It is found throughout Indo-China, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and southwestern China. Outside of India the native range of this species is difficult to determine as it has been dispersed extensively by humans throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia on account of the use of the trees. The genus Michelia contains about 40 species with a distribution in from India, to Malaysia and Indonesia, and in southern Japan and Taiwan.

(Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.)

The genus Michelia honors the Italian botanist Pietro Antonio Micheli (1679-1737) who studied fungi and was the first to discover the spores associated with the reproduction of fungi.

We currently have 7 herbarium specimens for Magnolia champaca in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.

• 052935 - collected by P. Raynor in Unknown
• 044582 - collected by W. M. Bush in 1975
• 044581 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1984
• 044580 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1984
• 055155 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1984
• 006567 - collected by Botany Dept. sub George Staples in 1990
• 053040 - collected by E. Albert in 2002