Species
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Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz

Almendrota, Antsombera, Asian barringtonia, Bduul

Climate known 52 photographs
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Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Barringtonia asiatica, known variously as fish poison tree, putat and beach Barringtonia among other names, is a species of plants in the brazil nut family Lecythidaceae. It is native to coastal habitats from Tanzania and Madagascar in the west to tropical Asia, northern Australia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was described by Wilhelm Sulpiz Kurz in 1875 and has a conservation status of least concern. It has been used by a number of traditional cultures as a fish poison.

Text from Wikipedia, “Barringtonia asiatica”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Barringtonia

Barringtonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus with this name in 1775. It is native to Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The genus name commemorates Daines Barrington.

Text from Wikipedia, “Barringtonia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Lecythidaceae
Described by
(L.) Kurz
Native to
Tanzania, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros +52
Wild records
1429 in range· 701 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Apr, mean day; nights 26 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
2364mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jan 255 mm (CHELSA)
Light
31–37DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (October to May at the habitat (not shifted)). Habitat rain 2364 mm a year, wettest January at 255 mm, driest August at 156 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 31 to 37 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 22.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Agasta asiatica (L.) Miers; Agasta indica Miers; Agasta splendida Miers; Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurtz; Barringtonia butonica J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. ex G.H.Cuzent and 13 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (October to May at the habitat (not shifted)).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (1703 mm of 2364 mm) takes 8 months, October to May. Mean temperature moves 1.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 2364 mm a year, wettest January at 255 mm, driest August at 156 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

2364 mm a year at the habitat, 1703 mm of it October to May. Wettest month January at 255 mm, driest August at 156 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1474 mm to 3754 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 31 to 37 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 31 to 37 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 23, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 22.1 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 22.1 °C, the absolute minimum 20.7 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.6 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 24.6 °C in August (across the envelope cells 19.5 °C to 26.2 °C), warmest day 28.0 °C in April (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 22.1 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 64 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearA flat year: mean day about 28 °C and mean night about 25 °C in every month, so the cold quarter is shaded by rounding only. 2364 mm of rain a year, most in Jan. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 715 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 20.7 °C and the 99th-percentile day 32.6 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.15°20°25°30°35°32.6° 99th-percentile day (undated)20.7° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 31–37RH 64–65 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 715 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 26–2928 / 27–2928 / 27–3028 / 26–3028 / 25–3028 / 23–3027 / 23–2927 / 23–2927 / 24–2927 / 25–2928 / 25–2928 / 26–29
Night °C25 / 22–2625 / 22–2625 / 23–2626 / 23–2726 / 22–2725 / 20–2725 / 19–2625 / 20–2625 / 20–2625 / 21–2625 / 22–2625 / 22–26
Rain mm255 / 23–460231 / 21–448216 / 47–393194 / 68–343193 / 89–335162 / 65–349160 / 52–395156 / 47–380183 / 48–369196 / 65–341204 / 71–357214 / 65–405
DLI35 / 30–4137 / 33–4137 / 33–4235 / 30–4232 / 26–3831 / 23–3531 / 24–3533 / 27–3735 / 31–3937 / 30–4235 / 29–4334 / 28–42
RH %65 / 60–6965 / 60–6964 / 61–6965 / 61–6965 / 61–6864 / 60–6864 / 60–6964 / 60–6964 / 60–6864 / 61–6865 / 61–6965 / 61–68

Each figure is the median across the 715 grid cells holding the 1264 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1958:6512 (-7.925, 145.625). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 20.7 °C, 1st-percentile night 22.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 715 distinct grid cells holding the 1264 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1958:6512 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -8.00_145.625, lapse-corrected -61 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 26 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeTanzania, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Réunion, Seychelles, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., South China Sea, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Cocos (Keeling) I., Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Solomon Is., Queensland, Fiji, Gilbert Is., Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Cook Is., Line Is., Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is.· introduced: Cayman Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Is.
Kew's description“tree” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker1.328, 103.863 · in the densest population, 266 records (19% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1429 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 701 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 413 km away. 207 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 165 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1429 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Barringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiatica

Photographs: (c) Christina, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); no rights reserved · CC0 (3); (c) agujaceratops, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) J Straka, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) chiuluan, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Barringtonia asiatica, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Two Major Saponins from Seeds of Barringtonia asiatica : Putative Antifeedants toward Epilachna sp. Larvae
Anthony J. Herlt, Lewis N. Mander, Emma Pongoh, Rymond J. Rumampuk (2002) · Journal of Natural Products
Antimicrobial activity of polyisoprenoids of sixteen mangrove species from North Sumatra, Indonesia
Sumardi Sumardi, Mohammad Basyuni, R Wati (2018) · Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity
Diversity and abundance of polyisoprenoid composition in coastal plant species from North Sumatra, Indonesia
Mohammad Basyuni, R Wati, Hiroshi Sagami, Sumardi Sumardi (2018) · Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity
Deniquelata barringtoniae gen. et sp. nov., associated with leaf spots of Barringtonia asiatica
Hiran A. Ariyawansa, Sajeewa S. N. Maharachchikumbura, Samantha C.Karunarathne Ekachai Chukeatirote, EKACHAI CHUKEATIROTE (2013) · Phytotaxa
Phytochemical Screening of Essential Oils and Antibacterial Activity and Antioxidant Properties of Barringtonia asiatica (L) Leaf Extract
Isaac John Umaru, Fasihuddin A. Badruddin, Hauwa A. Umaru (2019) · Biochemistry Research International
Antibacterial, antifungal activities of Barringtonia asiatica
Muhammad Rafiullah Khan, A.D. Omoloso (2002) · Fitoterapia
New Triterpenes from Barringtonia asiatica
Consolacion Y. Ragasa, Dinah L. Espineli, Chien‐Chang Shen (2011) · Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
Bioactivity Study of Barringtonia asiatica (Linnaeus) Kurz. Seed Aqueous Extract in Artemia salina
Elmer‐Rico E. Mojica, Jose Rene L. Mi (2007) · International Journal of Botany
A new triterpene fromBarringtonia asiatica
Consolacion Y. Ragasa, Dinah L. Espineli, Chien-Chang Shen (2011) · Natural Product Research
Elucidation of a new oleanane glycoside from Barringtonia asiatica
Robert A. Burton, Steven G. Wood, Noel L. Owen (2003) · ARKIVOC

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Barringtonia 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 64 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.