Tuesday 16 September 2014

Tree Story: Exploring the Urban Forest While Travelling Abroad

Peter, one of our Trees Count volunteers, shared this tree story with us about how he connects with places he visits by learning about a new tree. 

I find that one of the enjoyable parts of travelling afar is finding trees which don’t grow close to home. My process is simple: I take a photo of the leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, and the whole tree if possible and, once home, research its name and specific features. Somehow, the whole process makes my holidays more interesting. 

I recently visited the Cayman Islands and discovered a tree with some very distinct features.  We were on a tour of Grand Cayman when the trolley stopped at a beach.  Everyone else dutifully tripped to the sand and sun but I held back because I had noticed a very different tree - the Barringtonia asiatica, commonly known as the “Poison Tree.”

The most amazing thing about this tree is its fruit!  You can see from the photos how large it is - and its square, box-like shape.
The white flowers on the tree develop in large aggregations. 

So upon my return, I searched the internet for more information and what follows is summarized from Wikipedia.

Barringtonia asiatica (Fish Poison Tree or Sea Poison Tree) is a species of Barringtonia native to mangrove habitats on the tropical coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean from Zanzibar east to Taiwan, the Philippines, Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia.  It is grown along streets for decorative and shade purposes in some parts of India on the southeastern shore. It is also known as Box Fruit due the distinct box-shaped fruit it produces. The local name, futu, is the source of the name for the Polynesian island Futuna.