Macaranga grandifolia
Encyclopedia
Macaranga grandifolia is a species of plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 in the Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....

 family.
Common names for this plant include Nasturtium Tree, Parasol Leaf Tree and Bingabing. It is endemic to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 and has been widely cultivated in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

as a tropical ornamental. This plant has become very popular garden ornamental in many parts of the tropics for the extraordinary grandiose leaves, which are rounded-ovate in shape, with prominent, reddish veins and the stem attached towards the center of the leaf blade. The flowers are pinkish red and the males are held in coral-like, congested inflorescences. The leaf ash was eaten as a cure for enlarged bellies. Twine made from the bark and the wood was used for fishing spears. The leaves were used to wrap food. Birds eat the ripe fruit.
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