''Gordonia speciosa'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genus, genera ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is red in color which gives it the name 'rathu mihiriya' which is Sinhala for 'red beauty'. It has oval shaped leaves. ''Gordonia speciosa'' is at high risk of extinction, being found in just one location which holds fewer than one hundred individual trees. This species was once more common in forests above

Ramboda Ramboda is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province. The Ramboda Road Tunnel is currently the longest road tunnel in Sri Lanka and is situated on the A5 highway (Perandenyia - Nuwara Eliya Road), close to Ramboda falls. ...

in Sri Lanka but has undergone severe population declines.

Uses

Ornamental; Bark - medicinal; Wood - light construction.

Culture

It is known as "රතු මිහිරිය - rathu mihiriya" in Sinhala.

References

Sources

plantlist

Data
Endemic flora of Sri Lanka

speciosa Speciosa (foaled 28 April 2003) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from June 2005 and October 2007 she ran seventeen times and won four races. As a two-year-old, she won two of her six race ...

{{Theaceae-stub