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.
