etymology of tree name "maraam" and the geography of the mara am t ree

[Chandrasekaran, Periannan]

For a picture of cadamba flower(s) see:

http://mailbox.univie.ac.at/~a8711mab/sld003.htm

Somex Sangam era tamil texts describig the flower:
from ThirumurugaaRRuppatai
1. "
...........maraaththu
uruL pUn- thaNtaar ...". [stanza 11]
[txln: "garland made from the globular/round/cylindrical
 flowers of maraam (cadamba)"]

2.
" ...
cheng kaal maraaththa vaal iNar.."

txln: "the white cluster of maraam flowers which have pink/red
leg (stem?)"


Looks like one has to take these two diferent texts
together to get the full description of the
flower. From the picture, it appears that the indivdual flower
grows in an unsual cluster with the thin long flowers themselves
embedded in a "superflower".

chandra