Trees & Fruit of St. Croix
St. Croix is home to wide variety of trees and fruits becuase of our multicultural heritage and diverse landscapes. In addition to native tropical trees, you will find many trees that have made their way to St. Croix from places like Africa, North America, as well as Central and South America. The West End of St. Croix offers a lush rainforest filled with towering kapok and baobab trees. The island's scenic shorelines are dotted with coconut palms, and island wide you will find mahogany, mango, and tamarind trees. You can also find a variety of colorful and vibrant flowering trees like the African tulip. Many of the trees on the island are used for medicinal or practical applications, and/or as food sources. For anyone interested in learning more, our Trees and Fruit Guide offers basic information, photos, and uses for some of the trees you will see across the island.
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Trees
Scientific & Common Names:
Pathodea campanulata, is commonly known as the African tulip tree, fountain tree, fire tree, pichkari or Nandi flame
Native to:
Africa
Description:
The African tulip tree grows between 23 and 82 feet tall and has soft, light brownish-white wood. The pinnate leaves are 18 inches long, with seven to nineteen oval leaflets, each 4 to 6 inches long. New leaves emerge a bronze color, becoming dark green above and paler beneath. Flowering is both conspicuous and dramatic, with football-sized flower clusters produced at the ends of every branch during warm weather. The flowers are bell-shaped, and reddish-orange in color, with yellow borders on the petals. The flower bud contains water and often used by children who play with its ability to squirt the water. The sap can sometimes stain fingers and clothes yellow. The open flowers are cup-shaped and hold rain and dew, which make them attractive to many species of birds.
Practical Uses:
The seeds are edible and used in many parts of Africa. In its original habitat, the soft, light brownish-white wood is used for carving and making drums.
Medicinal Uses:
The bark has laxative and antiseptic properties, and is chewed and sprayed over swollen cheeks. The bark may also be boiled in water used for bathing newly born babies to heal body rashes. The seeds, flowers and roots are also used as medicine.
Scientific & Common Names:
Crescentia cujete, commonly known as the calabash tree, kalbas, totumo, and higuera
Native to:
North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean
Description:
The calabash tree grows from 20 to 40 feet high, with simple leaves which are alternate or in clusters whorled 3 to 5 together on short shoots. The bark is smooth to lightly fissured, and is light gray in color. The flowers of the calabash are light green and purple-streaked in color, and grow from the main trunk and limbs. These flowers have five petals fused in a funnel shape. This tree bears very large, spherical fruits, gourd-like fruits (up to 20 inches in diameter). The hard shells of the calabash fruit enclose a whitish pulp and thin, dark brown seeds.
Practical Uses:
The hard shells of the calabash fruit are useful as bowls, cups, and other water containers when hollowed out. The hollowed out calabash shells are also used as bird feeders or nest boxes, and are used in making musical instruments like maracas. The wood of the tree, which is hard, can be used to make tools and handles, and the split wood is used to make strong baskets.
Medicinal Uses:
The fruit pulp is used traditionally for respiratory problems. Syrup prepared from the pulp of the calabash is used as a medicine for relieving disorders of the chest or respiratory tract and also to cure dysentery and stomach aches. The leaves of the tree are used to reduce blood pressure. The decoction of the tree bark is used to clean wounds, and also to treat hematomas and tumors.
Scientific & Common Names:
Ceiba pentandra, commonly known as the kapok, silk cotton, jumbie tree, and ceiba tree
Native to:
Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and tropical west Africa
Description:
The kapok is a rapidly growing deciduous tree that reaches heights of 80 feet or more, and a diameter of 5 to 8 feet (above its buttresses). The buttresses themselves can be up to 10 feet tall and extend up to 10 feet from the trunk. The tree has a broad, flat crown of horizontal branches. The leaves are compound with 5 to 8 lance-shaped leaflets that are 3 to 8 inches long. The kapok tree produces numerous five-part whitish to red flowers which occur in dense clusters and bloom before the leaves appear. The tree produces 3 to 6 inch long, elliptical fruits. These fruits contain many seeds surrounded by a dense mat of cottony fibers. The tree gets its common name (silk cotton) from these fibers which rain down from the tree when the fruits ripen. The fibers are almost pure cellulose, and are buoyant, impervious to water, and have a low thermal conductivity.
Practical Uses:
The fibers from the kapok can be used for insulation, padding in sleeping bags and life preservers, and for stuffing mattresses and pillows. These trees are also considered valuable as honey trees. The wood is exceedingly lightweight and is easily worked, so it was used by Indians in the West Indies and Central and South America to build dugout canoes. However, because the wood lacks durability and is susceptible to insects and decay, it is generally not used for other kinds of construction.
Medicinal Uses:
Kapok leaves can be used in baths to relieve fatigue, and as a poultice for sore or sprained feet. A leaf decoction administered through a bath or as a poultice is used to treat various skin maladies, including insect bites and boils. For dizziness, a fresh leaf compress or lotion can be applied, and for edema-like swellings a boiled root decoction can be applied. For diabetes, a root infusion can be taken orally. For cough or hoarse throat a leaf infusion can be taken orally, gum from the silk cotton tree can be eaten for upset stomach or ingested as a root infusion to relieve constipation.
Scientific & Common Names:
Swietenia mahagoni, commonly known as the West Indies mahogany
Native to:
Florida and the islands of the Caribbean
Description:
This majestic tree, native to the West Indies, can grow to more than 75 feet. Leaves are found in 3 to 10 pairs of shiny, stiff, glossy leaflets, each about 6 inches long, with a gently curved mid vein. The trunk may have low buttresses at the base, is ridged and somewhat scaly. The dark red wood is excellent for furniture. It bears fruit that is a hard, wooden, pear-shaped capsule. The fruit starts off green then turns brown, then it splits into 5 segments containing winged seeds hanging from a central stalk, about the size and shape of maple keys. This is a very popular shade tree.
Practical Uses:
Mahogany is a popular hardwood for the construction of furniture, ships and boats, bowls, and for wood carving.
Medicinal Uses:
West Indies mahogany bark, either macerated or in a decoction, can be taken orally with salt to relieve fever. The leaves can be similarly used to alleviate diarrhea and dysentery. Teas of steeped mahogany bark and roots have also been used to improve vitality (due to the tree’s vitamin and iron content). A leaf decoction of the West Indies mahogany can also be used as a tea, or in a bath, to combat colds and fever. In cases of toothache, a treatment can be made from the tree’s resin, or a resin or bark decoction.
Scientific & Common Names:
Hippomane mancinella, commonly known as the manchineel, manzanilla, or beach apple. A present day Spanish name for the manchineel is ‘manzanilla de la muerte’ which means ‘little apple of death’. This name refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most poisonous trees in the world.
Native to:
Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America
Description:
Manchineel is a tree that reaches up to 50 feet high with a greyish bark. The leaves are simple, alternate, and glossy, with pointed tips, a rounded base, and smooth or slightly toothed edges. The veins have similar parts arranged on each side with a single conspicuous main vein, which ‘bleeds’ a milky white sap in young foliage if broken. Each tree carries both a male and female flower, usually inconspicuous. The fruit or ‘apples’, are very poisonous and are usually plentiful. They are about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter and green, turning yellow before dropping, with the odor of apples. Inside is a large pithy pulp with a single large, bumpy, wood-like seed at the center.
The manchineel tree can be found near to and on coastal beaches. It provides excellent natural windbreaks and its roots stabilize the sand which helps to prevent beach erosion.
Toxicity:
The leaves, bark, sap and fruit contain toxins that can be extremely harmful to individuals once they come into contact with them. The fruit is reported to have a sweet smell and pleasant taste; however, the tiniest piece ingested will cause blistering of the mouth and throat. Do not picnic under it or handle the broken vegetation. The milky white sap can cause permanent blindness if gotten into the eyes, and severe burns on the skin elsewhere. Standing beneath the tree during rain will cause blistering of the skin from mere contact with this liquid. Burning the tree may also cause blindness if the smoke reaches the eyes.
Columbus recorded the first record of its poisonous nature, when his men had died after their encounter with it. The Carib Indians used the sap of this tree to poison their arrows and would tie captives to the trunk of the tree, ensuring a slow and painful death. The Caribs were also known to poison the water supply of their enemies using the manchineel leaves.
Scientific & Common Names:
Calliandra inaequilatera, commonly known as the powder puff tree or fairy duster
Native to:
South Africa
Description:
This small, hardy tree is actually a large, fast-growing, wide shrub that can be trained to grow like a tree on a single trunk. These trees can grow up to 12 feet and branch out wide with very attractive 2 inch leaves that emerge as a flushed pink color but mature to dark green. Their oblong shaped leaves fold up to ‘sleep’ at night. The flower buds are as unusual as the flowers, and look like little rounded berry clusters. When in bloom, generally in the fall and winter, these trees produce lots of slightly fragrant, showy, 3″ spherical flower heads consisting of hundreds of red, pink or white stamens that look like little powder puffs, and are attractive to honeybees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Scientific & Common Names:
Hura crepitans, more commonly known as the sandbox tree, possumwood, jabillo, and the dynamite tree
Native to:
Tropical regions of North, Central, and South America
Description:
Locally, the sandbox tree is better known as the ‘Monkey-No-Climb’ because its yellow-gray bark is covered with hundreds of sharp, squat, fleshy spines. This tree can be found in St. Croix’s rainforest, with many growing to 100 feet or more in height. The leaves, alternating and simple, are narrowly heart-shaped, hairy, and possess prominent veins. The tree produces both male and female flowers that have no petals, and contains a milky, caustic sap that that can be toxic.
The fruit are spherical pods approximately 3 to 4 inches in diameter. They have a dry husk and shallow vertical valleys like a pumpkin, outlining 16 cavities within which contain large crescent shaped seeds. The fruits starts out green then turns to brown as it dries. The fruit literally explodes when it becomes dry as a method of seed disbursement, and can be dangerous if standing nearby as it catapults the seeds hundreds of feet. Its seeds are also toxic, like those of castor beans (which they resemble).
Toxicity:
Ingestion of raw sandbox seeds may cause violent vomiting and diarrhea. The sap causes red rashes when it comes in contact with the skin, and can cause blindness when in contact with the eyes, making it quite a danger to handle. Fishermen have been said to use the caustic sap from this tree to poison fish, and the Carib Indians used the sap to make poison for their arrows tips.
Practical Uses:
The wood is used for furniture under the name ‘hura’. Before more modern forms of pens were invented, the unripe seed pods were sawed in half to make decorative pen sandboxes (also called pounce pots), hence the name ‘sandbox tree’.
Medicinal Uses:
The leaves are mixed and pressed with salt and applied to reduce swellings and boils. When pressed in oil, the leaves are used for rheumatic pain. An extraction of sandbox leaves has reportedly been used in baths, and fresh leaves have been placed on the temples to ease headaches or on other parts of the body to relieve pains.
Scientific & Common Names:
Thespesia populnea, commonly known as: seaside mahoe, Pacific rosewood, milo, Indian tulip tree, and portia tree
Native to:
The ‘Old World’ or Afro-Eruasia (Africa, Europe and Asia), it is believed to have originated in India but is now found worldwide
Description:
The seaside mahoe looks very much like the manchineel tree. A good way to tell them apart is by the leaves. The seaside mahoe has green, heart-shaped leaves, 4 to 5 inches in length with tapering tips. The tree grows from about 20 to 33 feet high, with a trunk diameter of about 8 to 12 inches. Solitary, yellow, hibiscus-like flowers bloom year round, and turn red before falling off the tree. The fruit is a 1 to 2 inch wide, flat-topped, brown, leathery capsule that looks like a crab apple. The fruit is buoyant in seawater, enabling seeds to be carried by ocean currents to distant shores. Seaside mahoe trees colonize shoreline habitats and can form dense, impenetrable stands, crowding and shading out other native vegetation.
Practical Uses:
The seaside mahoe was introduced as a salt and drought tolerant flowering tree for coastal landscapes. Its wood is mainly used in making furniture because of its good ability to undergo carving. The wood is also used by many countries to carve musical instruments, bowls, spoons, and curios. The bark can be used for cordage, and, in West Africa, the leaves are used to wrap food.
Medicinal Uses:
Medicinally, a decoction of the seaside mahoe leaves has been used to treat coughs and headaches, an infusion of the bark to treat intestinal diseases, and a drink from the leaves and bark to treat fevers in teething babies. Plant extracts from the seaside mahoe have antiviral and antibacterial properties.
This prolific plant can be found almost everywhere on the island. It grows fast and thick, starting as a small twig and eventually, if left alone, can grow to a great size. In the Virgin Islands tan tan plants usually reach between 15 and 20 feet tall. It's branches are covered with little green oval leaves and leaflets that fold up with heat, cold or lack of water. It produces white flowers year round in dense, round balls and is sporadically filled with clusters of flat green, then brown, pods, each about 6 inches long. Inside the pods are numerous shiny seeds, changing color with the pod, in a ladder-like linear series. The stems have no thorns, which makes the pods easy to get to. Although this bush can be considered a nuisance, it is a nitrogen fixer, which helps to build the soil. However, it also contains an alkaloid, which over a period of time, can cause loss of long hair in livestock.
Tan tan harms the local environment by displacing native vegetation. A stand of tan tan often has few other species interspersed within it and provides low quality wildlife habitat, largely because the flower and fruit are not food for wildlife.
Scientific & Common Names:
Bursera simaruba, commonly known as: the turpentine tree, tourist tree, gumbo-limbo, West Indian birch, or chaca
Native to:
The West Indies, Central America, and South Florida
Description:
The turpentine tree can grow up to 40 feet or more living wildly in deciduous woods, or as a cultivated ornamental. Crucians, refer to it as the ‘tourist tree’ because the bark of the trunk is red and flaky, like the skin of a sunburned tourist. The branches hold between 3 and 11 oval, pointed, short-stalked leaflets, each 2 to 4 inches long, and small 5-part flowers in inconspicuous clusters.
Practical Uses:
The wood is very light and not useful for construction; however, the resin, obtained by injuring the bark, is used as glue, in varnish, and as incense.
Medicinal Uses:
The sap of the turpentine tree is put on sores and wounds to stop bleeding. The bark is also a common topical remedy in for skin affections like skin sores, measles, sunburn, insect bites and rashes. A tea made from the bark can also be taken internally for urinary tract infections, pain, colds, flu, sun stroke, fevers, weak back, and to purify the blood. A strip of bark about 2 inches x 11 inches is boiled in a gallon of water for 10 minutes for this local remedy and then used topically or drunk as a tea.
Fruit
Scientific name: Persea americana
Also called “Pears” in the Caribbean, the mild-flavored avocado has a saucy nomenclature. Derived from the Nahuatl people (traditionally referred to as “Aztecan”) of Central Mexico, their word for avocado, ahuacatl, translates literally to “testicle” a reference to the shape and texture of the fruit. Eaten for fertility, or avoided in efforts to preserve chastity, the avocado is native to the Caribbean and Central and South America. Frost-sensitive and brittle trees make it a delicate plant prized for the versatility of culinary uses. Used in savory and sweet dishes (many make sweet smoothies with the meat), the avocado has 60% more potassium than bananas and a rich stock of monounsaturated fat and has been shown to positively affect blood serum cholesterol levels. The fruit also has the highest level of fiber of any fruit and is loaded with vitamins E and K. Popular and sought after in the Caribbean, you can find avocados sliced on the side of many dishes, or as the main ingredient in guacamole, in season throughout the islands. Caribbean avocados differ from the common Hass avocadoes (smaller, darker skinned) greatly and are typically much larger with more creamy meat and a bright green and golden yellow flesh.
Originally from Southeast Asia, now grown in over 107 countries throughout the tropics. Though most people are familiar with the popular store variety, the Cavendish, few realize the variety that bananas come in, until traveling to the tropics. Eaten ripened (yellow) or cooked when green, bananas can be sweet or savory and starchy. Common uses in St. Croix include side ‘provisions’ of boiled green banana or plantain, its starchy brother, as well as the popular Bananas Foster, a flambe of ripe bananas, brown sugar, butter and rum. The wide, waterproof leaves have been used as umbrellas, for wrapping and preserving foods and the beautiful, large flowers can be eaten raw or cooked. The female flowers ripen to become a bunch of bananas. Down from the bunch are the male flowers, which are not functional and abort early. Since the male does not pollinate the flowers, and fruit develop without pollination, no seeds are developed. Each banana plant flowers only once at 1 ¨Œ© years when the growing point stops making leaves, though new plants, or slips, grow up from the root. Bananas have a variety of health benefits including being high in potassium, rich in antioxidants and a great source of fiber. The banana plant has also been used as a source of fibers for high grade textiles and have been compared to silk once refined. Farmers markets in St. Croix sell a variety of bananas and it is worth trying local varietals to see just how rich a flavor home-grown bananas can have.
Scientific name: Artocarpus communis
The beautifully lobed leaves and impressive green fruits of the breadfruit are easily recognizable in the Caribbean, and their quiet cultivation belies the tumultuous history of its origin in these parts. Originally from Tahiti, the breadfruit is often claimed as one of the reasons behind the mutiny on the Bounty, which figures large in nautical and folk history. A young Captain Bligh, upon hearing that breadfruit could be a reliable and inexpensive starch for sugar plantation slaves, forged his boat, the Bounty, through treacherous seas around the Cape of Good Hope to Tahiti to harvest and transport young breadfruit trees for the Caribbean. Unsuccessful for a variety of reasons (challenging weather, disgruntled sailors, delays, and subsequent mutiny that left him stranded on a small boat with only scant provisions and no weapons), Captain Bligh was only able to reach his goal with these trees on his second attempt (now that’s commitment) several years later. Though it is not commonly found in Crucian restaurants (though it doesn’t hurt to ask your server), it still remains a local staple and source of pride for many islanders. Eaten boiled with salt and spices or roasted, breadfruit has a unique flavor that is both potato-starchy and tender-fruity.
Scientific name: Averrhoa carambola
More commonly referred to as a Star Fruit (yes, really!) these juicy golden drops of sunshine can be found growing on trees several months out of the year. The entire fruit can be eaten, except the seeds. They have a sweet taste to them, but can be bitter if over ripe. The luxurious resort on St. Croix west end bears this fruit’s name.
The Kenip tree is large with a usually straight trunk with many branches bearing many oval shaped leaves. It’s fragrant flowers grow in clusters at branch ends. The male and female flowers usually appear on separate trees. Also found in clusters is its round fruit covered with a green leathery skin and edible pinkish acidic, but sweet inner pulp. Don’t bite into it! The pulp holds a large white seed with a starchy kernel. The Kenip tree, a favorite to many, is native to northern South America and was introduced and naturalized elsewhere, including tropical Asia and Africa. It is possible that it reached this region by American Indians who migrated to these islands. Traditionally in the Virgin Islands, the leaves and stems were used internally as a treatment for coughs and fever, while the fruit was used to treat diarrhea. Locally, the fruit has also been used to make jelly and wine, and fruit kernels are occasionally roasted and eaten like nuts. Its wood has been used for construction and charcoal.
Scientific & Common Names:
Mangoes (or mangos) are juicy stone fruits belonging to the genus Mangifera indica
Native to:
South Asia, first grown in India over 5,000 years ago
Plant Description:
The mango tree grows in tropical and sub-tropical climates and frost-free climates since extended exposure to temperatures below 30°F can kill or severely damage a mango tree. Mango trees can grow quite large, reaching a height of over 100 feet with a canopy of 35 feet or more, although mangoes being cultivated for harvest are often pruned and kept much smaller to be more manageable for picking. The mango tree has large, leathery leaves, five to 16 inches in length, and flowers are produced in terminal clusters about four to 16 inches long. Each flower is small with white petals and a mild, sweet aroma and less than 1% of the flowers will mature to form a fruit. It takes approximately four months for the mangoes to mature on the tree before they’re ready to be harvested. Certain mangoes on each tree will receive more sunlight than others, with some fruit staying shaded within the tree’s canopy. In certain varieties, the mangoes that receive the most sunlight will develop a red blush at the stem end; however, this red blush is not an indicator of maturity or ripeness.
Fruit Description:
Mangoes can vary quite a bit in size and color based on the variety, and there are over 300 varieties worldwide! Mangoes are generally sweet, although the taste and texture of the flesh also varies by variety. Some mangoes have a soft, pulpy texture similar to an overripe plum, some are firmer, like a cantaloupe or avocado, and some may even have a fibrous texture. Inside the fruit is a large, flat, oblong pit which contains a single seed within. The skin of unripe, pickled, or cooked mango can be consumed, but has the potential to cause contact dermatitis of the lips or tongue in susceptible people.
It can be difficult to pick out a ripe mango based on it's color, so the best way to pick out ripe mangoes is to squeeze them gently. A ripe mango will give slightly and a firm mango will ripen at room temperature over a few days. To speed up ripening, place mangoes in a paper bag at room temperature or set them in the sun for a day or two. Once ripened, mangoes can be moved to the refrigerator to slow down ripening for several days.
Cuisine:
Mangoes are often eaten on their own, or the ripe fruit is used in used in smoothies, sorbets, or other sweet desserts. The ripe fruit is also used in savory dishes like salads, sauces, chutneys, salsas, or to top meat or fish. Mangoes also have natural tenderizing properties, making them a perfect ingredient for marinades. The popular combination of sweet and salty, or sweet and spicy makes the mango a popular fruit in many cultures to sprinkle with chili powder, lime salt, or vinegar. Even the sour, unripe mangoes are used in things like chutneys, pickles, green mango salad, and side dishes. Due to the high natural sugar content of mangoes, they are also popular for making fermented drinks like mango wine or mead.
Nutrition and Practical Uses:
Mangoes are high in vitamin C and folate, and are a good source of natural fiber. Dried mango skin and its seeds are also used in Ayurvedic medicines. Mango leaves are used to decorate archways and doors in Indian houses and during weddings and celebrations such as Ganesh Chaturthi.
Toxicity and Warnings:
Contact with sap or the oils in mango leaves with skin can cause dermatitis and, in rarer cases, anaphylaxis in susceptible individuals (especially those with a history of dermatitis induced by contact with poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac). However, sensitized individuals are still able to safely eat peeled mangoes or drink mango juice.
A papaya tree can be spotted by its soft, greenish and hollow trunk topped with many spiraled, umbrella-like clusters of large leaves bearing pear shaped fruit. In the wild, papaya trees are either male or female. Occasionally, the male plant will bear flowers setting into fruit but usually the female bears the fruit. Plants sometimes begin flowering within 3 to 4 months from seed and will fruit for 2 to 3 years. The trees are rapid growers and survive shipping well, unlike many tropical fruits, which make them great for exporting. They are now commonly in northern markets. The fruit’s ripe flesh is sweet and can be used in desserts, salads, juices, or even as a wonderful breakfast melon. The flesh contains an enzyme used as medicine and as a meat tenderizer. It is said that it is a safe non-surgical treatment for a slipped disc.
Scientific name: Coccoloba uvifera
Found by the sea and safe to use for shade, the sea grape can also be eaten when ripe. The leaves look like fans and can be used as such. Flowers are closely spaced and radiating at right angles from a stem that starts out erect but later hangs as fruit develops. The flowers are small, fragrant, and 5-pointed with flaring white petals. The grapes remain green and hard for a long time. Eventually, one at a time they change to their final color, a deep purple. They hang in bunches, each one has a single seed, and are about the size of regular grapes. When fully mature, they become soft and have a sweet-sour taste making them great for use in jams and jellies. It is possible to make an alcoholic beverage made from the grapes, similar to wine. It is not commonly found anymore but when it is, it is sweet and served chilled . The sap that seeps from the bark has been used in the treatment of digestive maladies and asthma.
Scientific Name: Annona muricata
By the looks of this fruit, you may not want anything to do with it, but it is actually quite tasty! The inner white flesh is a sweet pulp that is used to make juice as well as candies, sorbets, and ice cream flavorings. It is believed that the leaves of the soursop can break a high fever. Also, boiling the leaves and drinking may help induce sleep. The tea, fruit, and juice are used medicinally to treat illness ranging from stomach ailments to worms.
Scientific & Common Names:
Sugar apples, also known as custard apples, are the most widely grown of the Annona species
Native to:
The original home of the sugar apple is unknown. It is commonly cultivated in tropical South America, not often in Central America, very frequently in southern Mexico, the West Indies, Bahamas and Bermuda, and occasionally in southern Florida.
Tree Description:
The sugar apple tree requires a tropical or near-tropical climate. It ranges from 10 to 20 feet in height with an open crown of irregular branches, and somewhat zigzag twigs. Deciduous, oblong and blunt tipped leaves, are alternately arranged on short, hairy petioles, and range in size from from 2 to 6 inches long and 3/4 to 2 inches wide. The leaves are dull-green on the top side, and pale with a bloom on the bottom. The leaves are also slightly hairy when young, and are aromatic when crushed. Along the branch tips, opposite the leaves, the fragrant flowers bloom in groups of 2 to 4. The flowers are also oblong, 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length and never fully open. They have drooping stalks, and 3 fleshy outer petals, yellow-green on the outside and pale-yellow inside with a purple or dark-red spot at the base. The compound fruit is nearly round, ovoid, or conical and is about 2 1/3 to 4 inches long. The thick rind of the sugar apple is composed of knobby segments, generally pale-green, gray-green, or bluish-green. Many of the fruit segments enclose a single cylindrical, black or dark-brown seed about 1/2 inches long. There may be a total of 20 to 38 seeds, or more, in the average fruit; however, some trees bear seedless fruits. Seedlings 5 years old may yield 50 fruits per tree in late summer and fall. Older trees rarely exceed 100 fruits per tree unless hand-pollinated. With age, the fruits become smaller and it is considered best to replace the trees after 10 to 20 years.
Fruit Description:
When ripe, the segments of the sugar apple begin to separate and reveal the mass of conically segmented, creamy-white, glistening, delightfully fragrant, juicy, sweet, delicious flesh of the fruit. The ripe sugar apple is usually broken open and the flesh segments enjoyed while the hard seeds are separated in the mouth and spat out. It is sweet and luscious, making it well worth the trouble. The name "custard apple" comes from the fact that the flesh is creamy white to light yellow, and resembles and tastes like custard.
Cuisine:
While generally eaten in it's raw form, the flesh of sugar apples can be pressed through a sieve to eliminate the seeds and then added to ice cream, smoothies, or blended with milk to make a cool beverage. It is generally not cooked.
Nutrition and Practical Uses:
The sugar apple is high in vitamin C and is a moderate source of B-complex vitamins. Sugar apples also contain several poly-phenolic antioxidants, the most prominent is Annonaceous acetogenins. Acetogenin compounds are powerful cytotoxins and have been found to have anti-cancer, anti-malarial and de-worming properties. The fiber in sugar apples is also supposed to slow down the absorption of sugar in the body, reducing the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
Throughout tropical America, a decoction of the leaves alone or with those of other plants is imbibed either a tonic, cold remedy, digestive, or to clarify the urine. The leaf decoction is also employed in baths to alleviate rheumatic pain. In India, the crushed ripe fruit, mixed with salt, is applied on tumors. The bark and roots are both highly astringent. The bark decoction is given as a tonic and to halt diarrhea. The root, because of its strong purgative action, is administered as a drastic treatment for dysentery and other ailments.
Toxicity and Warnings:
The seeds are acrid and poisonous. In fact, powdered seeds, also pounded dried fruits serve as fish poison and insecticides in India. A paste of the seed powder has been applied to the head to kill lice but must be kept away from the eyes as it is highly irritant and can cause blindness.
Scientific & Common Names:
Tamarindus indica, more commonly known as the tamarind tree
Native to:
Tropical Africa
Description:
The tamarind is a long-lived, medium-growth, bushy tree, which attains a maximum crown height of 40 to 60 feet. The crown has an irregular, vase-shaped outline of dense foliage. The branches droop from a single, central trunk. The leaves of the tamarind are bright green in color, elliptical ovular in shape of the pinnately compound type, with pinnate venation and less than 2 inches in length. The tamarind does flower, with elongated flowers that are about an inch wide, five-petalled, and yellow with orange or red streaks.
The tamarind fruit is an indehiscent legume, sometimes called a pod, 3 to 6 inches in length, with a hard, brown shell. The fruit has a fleshy, juicy, acidic pulp. It is mature when the flesh is colored brown or reddish-brown. The seeds inside the fruit are somewhat flattened, and glossy brown. The tamarind pulp is best described as sweet and sour in taste, and is high in tartaric acid, sugar, B vitamins, and calcium.
Practical Uses:
The fruit is harvested and the pulp eaten in many cultures. Tamarind wood is a bold red color, and due to its density and durability, tamarind heartwood can be used in making furniture and wood flooring. Due to it's acidic nature, the tamarind fruit pulp is used to polish brass statues and lamps, and copper, brass, and bronze utensils.
Medicinal Uses:
A compress of young tamarind leaves is used for sprains, as well as for eye infections. A decoction made from the tamarind fruit has been used to treat malarial fever, and macerated tamarind fruit mixed with water is sometimes drunk as a laxative. A tamarind leaf, bark, or root decoction can be taken with salt for asthma, and or for throat infections. Tamarind fruit and/or leaf decoctions are used to relieve colds and coughing. A tamarind leaf decoction is also given as a remedy for measles. Tamarind leaf extracts have also exhibited antioxidant activity in the liver, and a tamarind root decoction is used as a remedy for jaundice.
