Gyrocarpus americanus

Gyrocarpus americanus is a kind of flowering plant that belongs to the Hernandiaceae family. You can find this plant in many warm places all around the world, which is why it is called pantropical.

People know this plant by many fun names, like the helicopter tree, propeller tree, whirly whirly tree, stinkwood, or shitwood. These names come from the plant's special shape and how some parts of it smell.

The plant has interesting leaves and seeds that spin when they fall, making it easy to spot in nature. Even though some of its names might sound silly, Gyrocarpus americanus is an important part of many forests and ecosystems.

Description

Gyrocarpus americanus is a slender, deciduous tree with smooth, grey bark. It usually grows to about 12 metres tall.

The leaves grow in a spiral pattern, mostly crowded at the ends of the branches. They can be up to 150 × 120 millimetres in size, shaped like an egg and often have three lobes. The leaves are dark green on top and paler and grey underneath, with a soft, velvety feel. The flowers are cream or yellowish-green and grow in tight groups, and they have an unpleasant smell. The fruit is a hard nut with two long, thin wings that help it fly through the wind. These special fruits and the flower smell have led to the tree’s fun names like “helicopter tree” and “propeller tree”.

Taxonomy

Gyrocarpus americanus is a flowering plant that belongs to the Hernandiaceae family. It has several subspecies, including G. a. africanus, found in Africa, and G. a. americanus, which grows in places like East Africa, India, Malesia, northern Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, South America, and Central America. Another subspecies, G. a. glaber, is found in Madagascar. Scientists are still learning more about these subspecies and how they are related to each other.

Uses

In Tonga, children enjoy playing with the plant's special winged seeds, called puko vili. The wood from this tree is sometimes used to build things like cowsheds, known as vaka. People also make a drink from the bark to help with stomach aches.

Traditional ecological knowledge

The Gija people of the East Kimberly, Australia, call this tree Jarlaloony. For tens of thousands of years, they have used the wood of this tree to make coolamons and, more recently, other carved objects.