Thai Botanic · Project plant supply
Thespesia populnea
Thespesia populnea supplied from Thailand for landscape projects. Coastal specialist tolerant of salt spray and onshore wind. Sizes listed.
Portia tree, Indian tulip tree · Malvaceae · Evergreen tree
A coastal specialist. Glossy heart-shaped leaves, yellow hibiscus-like flowers ageing to maroon, and genuine tolerance of salt spray, saline soil and onshore wind. The tree to specify on a waterfront where ordinary stock burns.
Specification
| Mature height | 6–12 m |
|---|---|
| Crown spread | 5–10 m (indicative) |
| Caliper range supplied | 5–22 cm standard, measured 1 m above soil level. Larger by arrangement. |
| Root-ball diameter | 60–120 cm (indicative) |
| Growth rate | Moderate |
| Habit | Evergreen |
| Flowering | Yellow cupped flowers with a dark centre, ageing to maroon; near year-round |
Landscape use
Waterfront and marina planting, beachfront resorts, coastal roads, and windbreaks on exposed shorelines. Its scale suits promenades and courtyards where a larger canopy tree would dominate.
Its value is specifically coastal, and that is where it earns its place — holding form and foliage in salt spray and onshore wind that few other flowering trees will take.
Site tolerance
| Drought | Moderate to high |
|---|---|
| Salinity | Very high — salt spray, saline soil and brackish groundwater |
| Wind | Very high — holds form in onshore wind |
| Soil | Sandy and coastal soils; tolerates poor drainage better than most |
| Heat | High |
| USDA zone | 10–12 |
Export notes
Supplied root-balled and wrapped. Evergreen, so ships with foliage and is normally crown-reduced before loading. Phytosanitary certification accompanies every shipment. See export and compliance, and how the root ball is built, wrapped and loaded for the container on our nursery site.
For available sizes and current stock in this species, message us on WhatsApp at +66 93 425 9892 or email contact@thaibotanic.com — or browse the species catalogue. This is one of the species we grow and supply regularly. If you are working to a programme, send the planting schedule and we will plan lifting and shipping around it. Where a design calls for something outside our usual range, we source it through the nursery network we have worked with for years, given reasonable notice.
Supply grades
| Grade | Overall height | Clear trunk | Spread | Caliper (min) | Grown in | Root ball |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 1500 mm | 1000 mm | 750 mm | 30 mm | 40 L | 100% coco peat |
| Medium | 2500 mm | 1500 mm | 1000 mm | 50 mm | 100 L | 100% coco peat |
| Large | 4000 mm | 1500 mm | 2000 mm | 80 mm | 300 L | 100% coco peat |