2005, Northern Kentucky University's Costa Rican Natural History course. The area around the cabins and lodge at Punta Marenco was mostly open, but several flowering trees and shrubs had either been planted or been left standing for ornamental and shade purposes.
This little tree fascinated me because it had intensely sweet-smelling yet bizarre-looking flowers. It was the only one like it I saw, and didn't appear to be cultivated.
Cauliflory refers to plants (usually woody) that flower from their trunks. ("Cauli" is stem, and "flory" is flowers). This is more common in the tropics than in the temperate zone, perhaps because this trait is often linked to the production of large, heavy fruit dispersed by large animals. Temperate zone plants (at least in my area) tend to rely on smaller dispersers and thus make smaller fruit, so no need to use the trunk for support.