last year when i was staying at Casa delSol, i noticed these American-football-looking 'fruits' hanging HIGH up in the tree branches ...
i asked what they were, but no one knew .... this year, i saw them again and asked Lisa, the Manager at Casa del Sol about them; she said she didn't know either, but there were some on the property that had branches low enough that i could see them ... she was right ...and there were some laying on the ground ...
after the fruit drops the ground it splits open in 5 pieces, with these HUGE seeds inside ...
i also noticed some huge beautiful flowers high up in some trees, but could never get close enough to actually see them ... i saw these buds and realized it was the same tree ...
as it grows, it looks like a skinny banana ...
i walked to look at the buds every morning and every evening ... i was watching to see when they would open .... one morning i saw this little guy on 'look out' ...
but every time i got there in the morning, the flower had already bloomed and had fallen to the ground :( ...finally after a week i got lucky ....
stunningly beautiful ....
the flower is about 10" in total ....
still on my quest to find out the name of the tree ....
what is the name of the tree? ... i Googled and searched every which way trying to find out .... and asked lots of people .. but i wasn't having any luck ..... one day i asked Christi, at the Marine Park, she said her Mom would know .... a couple days ago i saw her Mom on the street and asked her .... by the way, i had met her Mom the second year i was here ... we discovered an amazing fact ... she had one of her sons in the same hospital i was born in, .....in Tiffin, Ohio ... how strange is that ???????????
she told me it is a Provision Tree ... and it grows in low marshy areas ....and that the Pirates would look for these trees when they came to the islands because they knew they would always be able to find fresh water there ... thus the name ... it would always 'Provide' them with fresh water :) ...once i had the name, i Googled it again ... she was totally right :)
The Provision Tree (Pachira aquatica), grows to 60 feet ... one article said that the nut is edible and often eaten raw or roasted, with a flavor similar to a European chestnut; it may also be ground and made as a hot drink ...
but no one here seems to eat the nuts ... one article said that they fed it to rats and they died ...
it did say that 'they' use the bark to make tea ... for the blood ... to help anemia, low blood pressure, fatigue and to generally build strength ...
another article said ... Also known as Malabar Chestnut, Guiana Chestnut and Saba Nut. this tree is sold commercially in the USA under the name Money Tree ... if you Google 'Money Tree' ... they talk about bonsai .... to bring good fortune and money ?
Mystery solved :)
No comments:
Post a Comment