Myristica cagayanensis

Common Names: Cagayan Nutmeg (English), 蘭嶼肉豆蔻 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Myristica cagayanensis Merr. [1]
Family: Myristicaceae [1]
Natural Distribution: Cagayan Province (Philippines), Green Island (Taiwan) and Orchid Island (Taiwan) [2]
Natural Habitat: Lowland rainforest
Description: Evergreen tree that can grow to around 20 m tall. [2] Trunks usually tawny in colour. The leathery alternate leaves are around 15-20 cm x 5-7 cm (length by width) for male plants and 20-40 cm x 8-12 cm (length by width) for female plants. [3]
Flowers: Dioecious species (male and female plants separate). The creamy small bell-flowers bloom at around September. [3]
Seeds: The roughly 3-4 cm dark brown seeds are recalcitrant and need to be sown as fresh as possible. The seed nuts are enwrapped by a red aril, contained inside an orange husk, which splits open when ripe.

This species used to be classified under Myristica ceylanica var. cagayanensis, however some scholars have noted differences and placed this species as its own. Cagayan nutmeg seems to be inedible and not much culinary record is available for this species of nutmeg. This species may be threatened due to habitat destruction. In Taiwan, this species is sometimes planted as ornamental/street trees. The fruit is rich in oil and is called “gago” by the Tao people of Orchid Island, which means fire-lighting lamp-oil. The seeds are reportedly rich in lignan-type compounds such as cagayanin, otobain, otobanone and more. [4]

Because the seeds are so recalcitrant, it was really hard to find fresh seeds that could germinate, a lot of the seeds I’ve collected in the past would end up rotting or have already been chewed up by squirrels. Fortunately, two seeds I’ve collected this time from street trees were quite fresh and were able to germinate. I did at first hydrate the seeds in water first overnight and then placed in Sphagnum moss until germination, which took just under 2 weeks.

2021/06/17, Myristica cagayanensis fresh seeds collected

Arenga pinnata

Common Names: Sugar Palm, Zuckerpalme, Kaong, Kabung, Pohon Enau, Cây Báng, ตาว, 사탕야자, サトウヤシ, 桄榔, 砂糖椰子
Scientific Name: Arenga pinnata (Wurmb) Merr. [1]
Family: Arecaceae [1]
Natural Distribution: Northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Southern China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Western Indonesia and Philippines. [2] Considered invasive in Eastern Africa. [2]
Natural Habitat: Lowland rainforest up to wet forest at 1,400 m in elevation.
Description: Evergreen tree that can grow to around 20 m tall. [3] Leaf pinnate and can be up to a couple of meters long.
Flower: Monoecious. Starts to flower and fruit at around 10-15 years old and can flower for several years even if untapped. [3] This palm is monocarpic and so once it flowers and fruits, it dies. Flowers yellow.
Seeds: Fruits turn yellow when mature. The black recalcitrant seeds are roughly 2.5 cm by 1.5 cm. The fleshy fruit can cause skin irritation.

The palm is well-known for its sweet sap and is used to make palm sugar. It is quite an important crop in their natural distribution. Tapping the sap can be tricky as tapping too much would cause exhaustion and possibly death. Under-tapping would cause the tree to continue the flowering process, and as the tree is monocarpic, the tree would reach its life-expectancy faster. Usually only the male inflorescence is tapped, and one inflorescence can produce around 5 litres of sap a day. [3] The sap can also yield alcohol and be used for biofuel. [4] The cooked sap produces mainly nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds like pyrazine derivatives (such as 5-methyl-6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta pyrazine), which are responsible for the nutty-flavour, while the caramel-like aroma are primarily attributed to furan derivatives such as furaneol. [5] The sap is comprised of around 10-13% sugar (mostly sucrose). [6]

2019/01/09, Arenga pinnata fruits and seeds.

Garcinia subelliptica

Common Names: Happiness Tree/Philippine Fortune Tree/Fukugi Tree (English), フクギ (Japanese), 福木/菲島福木 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Garcinia subelliptica Merr. [1]
Family: Clusiaceae [1]
Natural Distribution: Japan’s Ryukyu Islands (some say they were introduced by the early Ryukyuans), Taiwan (Green Island, Orchid Island and possibly Hengchun Peninsula) and Philippines (Babuyan Islands, Luzon). [2, 3]
Natural Habitat: Lowland tropical and subtropical rainforest or coastal rainforests
Description: Evergreen tree that usually grows to around 10-15 m max. Long, smooth, elliptical, opposite leaves are around 10-15 cm long and 5-8 cm wide. [4, 5]
Flower: Monoecious, but sometimes dioecious too. Numerous flowers when blooming. Flowers are small and have white (pale greenish yellow) petals, around 1cm in diameter. Flowering occurs around April-May.
Fruits: The ripe fruit is yellow and has a pungent smell. Fruit is reportedly edible. Each fruit usually has 2-3 seeds within but can hold up to 5. Fruit is around 3-5 cm in diameter.  [3, 4] Fruiting occurs in summer around July-August.
Seeds: Seeds are recalcitrant [3]. General rule is that most Garcinia species have recalcitrant seeds and they may take several weeks to germinate (even if temperatures are cool but still moist). The roundish elliptical seed grows to roughly 4 cm wide.

Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus

Common Names: Chaulmoogra Tree (English), Đại Phong Tử (Vietnamese), กระเบา (Thai), 大風子/驅蟲大風子 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus Pierre ex Laness. [1]
Family: Achariaceae [1]
Natural Distribution: Indochinese Region (Cambodia, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Natural Habitat: Lowland evergreen tropical forests [6]
Description: Evergreen tree that grows up to 20-30 metres tall and up to 50cm in diameter. Bark is greyish. [7] The lanceolate, coriaceous, oblong, glabrous leaves are simple and they alternate, roughly 10-30cm long by around 3-7cm wide. [3, 7, 8]
Flower: Some individuals are monoecious, some individuals are dioecious. [7, 8, 9] Flowers are unisexual. [7, 8, 9]
Fruits: The orange-brown fruits range from 8-15cm in diameter and can contain up to 100 seeds depending on the fruit size, usually half of that amount.  Fruit shell not difficult to open. Fruits take about half a year to develop and ripen. [9]
Seeds: The dark-brownish seeds are used to produce and chaulmoogra oil. The seed is poisonous. The seed is classified as intermediate storage, being able to be stored for a short period of time (perhaps that is to do with its long germination period). [10] It will start sprouting at the right conditions (hot and humid). Seed has hard shell and are about 1-2cm long.

Historically, the plant was regarded as medicinal and the seed oil called chaulmoogra oil is used to treat leprosy and various skin disorders, however its application may not be objectively substantiated. [11] One proposed mechanism of action may be the activation of lipases in the body to destroy foreign lipids, which includes the cell walls of Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium that causes leprosy. [11] Another claim states that the chaulmoogra oil causes phagocytes to aggregate near the bacterium. [11] Some others say that the cyclopentenyl fatty acids in the oil are the main contributor to the antimicrobial effect of chaulmoogra oil. [10] The oils from the seeds contain fatty acids such as chaulmoogric, gorlic, hydnocarpic, oleic and palmitic acid. [5] Another constituent called hydnocarpin is a flavonolignan that has exhibited promising anticancer properties. [11] Nowadays the tree is mostly planted primarily as an ornamental tree.

To make sure that the fruit is indeed ripe, I suggest to collect fruits that have already fallen. The white pulp inside goes rancid really quickly so don’t leave them around in the balcony or backyard like I did and get rid off it straight away and wash the seeds.

2019/01/06 – Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus ripe fruit which was already opened. I then quickly went to process the seeds.

Sindora supa

Common Names: Supa/Balayong/Manopo (Various names in the Philippines), 菲律賓白鶴豆/斯帕樹/蘇白豆 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Sindora supa Merr.
Family: Fabaceae/Leguminosae (Subfamily: Detarioideae)
IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
Natural Distribution: Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro)
Natural Habitat: Low elevation tropical rainforest, tropical limestone forest
Description: Monoecious, deciduous tree up to 20m (some say 30m). Although it is said to be deciduous, I have never seen them shed massive amounts of leaves. Rarely do trunk diametre reach to about 1.5m, and the tree does not form buttresses. Bark can grow up to 1cm thick. The plant grows stipules that are about 1cm (if two combines it forms a heart shape). Paripinnate compound leaf consists of 3-4 sets of leaflets. Each glabrous, elliptical leaflet up to 9cm long and 5cm wide. 
Flower: Axillary or terminal panicle bisexual inflorescence up to 15cm long. 4 sepals, 1 petal, both yellowish green and have long filaments (which will form the spikes of the fruit). Stamens (about 2cm) are pinkish and only about 10. Flowering season around April, fruits usually produced by September. 
Seeds: Seed storage is orthodox. Can store in ambient temperature (preferably low moisture) for 1-2 years without dramatically affecting viability. The mature black seed pods are more or less flat ovate shaped, with numerous spikes (tip of prickles have resins emerging), and can grow up to 5cm long/wide. Each seed pod contains 1-3 seeds. The black, shiny, roughly 1.5cm seed has fleshy arils attached. 

This is a very endangered tree endemic to the Philippines, with decreasing population due to logging and habitat loss. The wood is heavy and is aromatic, it is especially prized for flooring. The tree also yields aromatic yellow oil, and so probably why it is also known as kerosene tree. The oil is also used as folk medicine or as an illuminant. This is a sun-loving tree. There are many local names in the Philippines, but Supa seems to be the commonest way to call this tree.

For Taiwan, this species was first introduced to Kaohsiung City’s Meinong Shuangshi Tropical Viviparous Forest (高雄美濃雙溪熱帶樹木園) by Japanese botanist, Sasaki Shunichi (佐々木舜一) for experimental purposes in 1935. Apparently this species has infiltrated the tropical Queensland rainforest near Cairns, Australia, not sure if it is invasive.

Fruit pod and seed of Sindora supa collected. This photo was taken on 2019/01/07. The seed has already been scarred and left in Sphagnum moss, and then it started to expand (germination) a few days before this photo was taken.

Dillenia indica

Common Names: Elephant Apple (English), Simpoh (Malay), चलता (Hindi), চালতা (Bengali), သပြုပင် (Burmese), มะตาด (Thai), 오아과 (Korean), 五椏果/第倫桃 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Dillenia indica L.
Family: Dilleniaceae
Natural Distribution: Assam (India), Himalayan Foothill (Nepal, Bhutan), Northern Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar,  Yunnan Province (China), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (West of Wallace’s Line)
Natural Habitat: Low elevation tropical valley and stream forests under 1,000m
Description: Monoecious evergreen tree growing up to 20-30m tall. Leaves simple, with distinctive lateral veins that look like furrows. Leaf length can exceed 30cm long. Bark flaky and reddish. Buttressed roots not prominent.
Flower: White bisexual flowers with 5 petals are produced annually from about May to September. Numerous yellow stamens surround the central styles (numerous ovules).  Flower diametre can reach 20cm. 
Seeds: Large round yellow fruit can grow to 15cm in diametre (the sepals aggregate and form the large fruit). Fruit mature during Northern Hemisphere’s winter, about December to March (or even later). Fruits can weigh more than 1kg.  Seed itself is creamy-coloured but surrounded by brownish red short hairs. The falling fruit can be hazardous if trees are tall. Large herbivores in the forest help with propagation (but not necessary). Germination usually takes 1-3 months. Seed is about 0.5cm long and are probably recalcitrant.

Dillenia indica can be easily distinguished from other tropical plants because of its distinctive leaves and fruit. It prefers a warm humid climate. If intended for consumption, the fruit (sepal part) is mixed into curry dishes or the slimy inner part (the true fruit) is made into jelly. However this tree is mainly planted for ornamental purposes in tropical and subtropical climate zones (most likely frost tender, probably cannot grow well if winter daytime regularly dips below 5°C/41°F). The fruit has a distinctive fermented scent. Its timber is probably used on a local scale. 

2018/05/19, the collected Dillenia indica fruit from 2 days ago was cut open. The outside hard-fleshy part encapsulates the inner true fruit (the foldy pulp bits). The seeds are found within those inner yellow envelope-like structures.

Barringtonia racemosa

Common Names: Poeierkwasboom (Afrikaans), Common Putat (English), Putat Sungei (Malay), সমুন্দরফল (Bengali), จิกสวน (Thai), サガリバナ (Japanese), 玉蕊/水茄苳/穗花棋盤腳 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Barringtonia racemosa (L.) Spreng.
Family: Lecythidaceae
Natural Distribution: South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal), Mozambique, Tanzania, Somalia, Madagascar, Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Southeast Asia, Southern China (including Hainan Island), Ryukyu Island (Southward starting from Amami Islands), Taiwan, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Northeastern Australia
Natural Habitat: Tropical and subtropical coastal and mangrove forests
Description: Evergreen tree usually around 10m tall at most. Alternate obovate-oblong simple leaves are glossy when mature, can grow up to 35cm long and about 15cm wide, and is pointy at the tip. The red new shoots are papery, gradually growing greener glossier. Leaves crown at the tip of branches.
Flower: Axillary inflorescence in the form of pendulous raceme. In summer the plant begins to bloom attractive whitish to pale pink bisexual flowers (4 red sepals, 4 pale pink petals and lots of whitish to pale pink stamens). Peduncle can reach 80cm. The nectar attracts pollinators including moths and bats.
Seeds: Oval-shaped fruit is light brownish with creases (from the lobes of flower). The fibrous outer coating makes the seed buoyant. The single seed inside the fruit is recalcitrant (but the seed can still germinate after months in the sea).  Quite some number of fruits are seedless. Sometimes the ripe fruit stays on the tree for a long time, but most fruits mature and drop during the first few months of the year. 

This is a very widespread species. They are dispersed by water, such as the sea or river. In their natural distribution, seedlings can be found on beach shores. They can tolerate saline soils but probably grow best along freshwater rivers. 

2018/01/25, this is one of the 2 Barringtonia racemosa seeds I have planted. The medium I used was clay soil and potting mix (about 1 to 1). I left some Sphagnum moss on top just in case the top dried out. I heard that this species loves it moist so I watered it everyday.

Artocarpus heterophyllus

Common Names: Jackfruit (English), ചക്ക (Malayalam), कटहल (Hindi), பலா (Tamil), কাঁঠাল (Bengali), Nangka (Malay/Indonesian), Langka (Tagalog), Mít (Vietnamese), ขนุน (Thai), パラミツ (Japanese), 波羅蜜/大樹菠蘿 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.
Family: Moraceae
Natural Distribution: Origin believed to be from Southwestern India (Western Ghats)
Natural Habitat: Tropical evergreen montane rainforest around 400m to 1,200m above sea level.
Description: Evergreen tree that grows to around 20m in the wild (mostly around 10m in cultivation). The leathery-glabrous dark green alternate simple leaves reach to 25cm long and 10-12cm wide (maximum). Young seedlings’ new shoots and leaves are papery and rough but as the individual matures, the leaves become glossier (or rather smoother). The rough bark is dark brownish.
Flower: The plant is monoecious but flowers are unisexual. Usually flowers just after winter (around late March in Asia). Cauliflory, pedunculated usually on mature branches. The oblong inflorescence catkin structures (male and female) emerge from bracts. Individual flowers are tiny, but the female catkins are larger than the male catkins, yellowish green in colour. Pollinated by wind and insects. 
Seeds: Oval-shaped light brown seeds are recalcitrant (must be germinated immediately or else viability is lost) and about 2.5 to 3cm. There are hundreds of seeds in one big fruit. Fruit is one of the largest in the world (is the largest tree-borne fruit), with some larger ones weighing more than 30kg. Mature fruits turn from green to rusty yellow. The fruit size varies considerably, typically around 20 to 50cm long. Exocarp (outer layer of fruit) is covered with small blunted pyramidal spikes (each spike is a carpel of a single flower) all throughout and does not inflict pain when handling with bare hands. Fruiting usually occurs in June to August in Asia, but some individuals fruit all year. 

Widely cultivated in the tropical and subtropical Africa, Americas, Asia and Australia mainly for its edible yellow sweet pulp in the fruit (each pulp contains one seed – the fruit is actually a syncarp, an aggregation of many individual true fruits). To me it has a fruity bubble-gum flavour and texture of rubber. Jackfruit are also used in some cooked dishes and the seeds can be eaten once cooked. It is perhaps the hardiest (although cold resistant, it probably cannot withstand freezing temperatures) species within the Artocarpus genus, being able to fruit in subtropical climates. Usually takes about 5-10 years to fruit from seed. The plant leaks out sticky white sap / latex when cut (leaves, stem or fruit) and sometimes the latex within the fruit makes it messy to cut it. It’s other documented uses include its timber, latex and resin. 

2018/09/15, these washed jackfruit seeds that are infected with insects. The seeds without water will dry and turn whitish (there’s actually a thin plastic-like seed coat layer that can be peeled when wet).

Durio zibethinus

Common Names: Durian (English), துரியான் (Tamil), дуриан‎ (Russian), دريان‎ (Arabic), Sầu Riêng (Vietnamese), ทุเรียน (Thai), ទុរេន‎ (Khmer), ဒူးရင်း (Burmese), ドリアン (Japanese), 두리안‎ (Korean), 榴槤 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Durio zibethinus L.
Family: Malvaceae (Subfamily: Helicteroideae)
Natural Distribution: Borneo, Sumatra (speculated origin)
Natural Habitat: In tropical wet Dipterocarp forest near riverbanks and hills up to 1,400m above sea level.
Description: An evergreen tree to about 30-40m in the wild and buttressed. Heartwood is red and can be used as timber. Alternate, simple, papery leaves elliptical but acuminates at apex, leaves reach 15cm long and the underside is closer to rusty white coloured (with fine scales/hairs). 
Flower: Flowering occurs around March to April at night. Bisexual flowers are cream coloured and bisexual, around 5cm wide. The flowers are pollinated by nocturnal animals such as moths and bats at night in their natural distribution. They can flower up to 2 times a year. 
Seeds: The brownish-orange seeds are highly recalcitrant and must be sown as soon as possible. Raw seeds are poisonous to eat. The fruit consists of 5 lobes and the outer thorny shell turns from green to rusty yellow when ripe. The size and shape of the fruit (pulp chamber size) varies.

Durio genus was used to be placed under the family Bombaceae (now a subfamily of Malvaceae). The genus is known for their spiky fruits (duri in Malay means thorns). Prefers well-drained, slightly-acidic range of sandy, loamy or clay soils. Durians start fruiting when 10 years old at optimal conditions (give and take 2-3 years) but usually takes longer than that (the relatively faster way is to go for grafting). The species exhibits cauliflory (plants that flowers and fruits on stems and trunks, this reproductive strategy allows ground/understorey animals to access and propagate the seeds after consuming the fruit). The fruit is regarded highly by some and found to be repulsive by some. The edible pulp is a good source of natural carbohydrate, fibre, vitamins and proteins, it is eaten either raw or cooked. 

It is said that to get rid off the pungent durian smell in the mouth after eating, you have to pour water in one of the durian shell lobes, let the water sit for a little and then drink the water (I tried this and did not work). In their native habitats, their fruits attract larger rainforest mammals such as elephants, civets, primates, deer and rhinoceroses to help propagate the seeds. 

2018/05/14, durian (Durio zibethinus) seeds from one fruit, the seed coats are still on

Pterocarpus indicus

Common Names: Burmese Rosewood/Amboyna Wood/Andaman Redwood (English), Narra (Tagalog), Angsana (Malay/Indonesian), Giáng hương mắt chim (Vietnamese), ประดู่บ้าน (Thai), インドシタン (Japanese), 印度紫檀 (Chinese)
Scientific Name: Pterocarpus indicus Willd. [1]
Family: Fabaceae/Leguminosae (Subfamily: Faboideae) [1]
Natural Distribution: South Asia, Indochinese Region, Malesia Region, Papua New Guinea and some Western Pacific Islands
Natural Habitat: Low elevation tropical rainforest and lowland forests near waterbodies.
IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
Description: A tree that can grow up to around 30 metres. The glossy pinnate leaflets are compounded and elliptical in shape. Each leaflet is a little wrinkly along the edges. Tree crown is round and branches can be droopy, larger trees have buttresses. It can exhibit deciduous behaviours in environments that are colder or have seasonal dry periods. It is a relatively fast growing tropical tree and a nitrogen fixing tree.
Flower: The axillary flowers are yellow and last shortly. 
Seeds: Mature seed pods are brown, woody and fibrous in the middle with flattened margins that act like “wings” to help air dispersal of seeds (it is a samara fruit). One seed pod can contain 2-3 seeds. It can take about half a year for the fruit pods to mature. Seeds storage behaviour is orthodox if properly stored, probably intermediate storage behaviour in typical household. The seeds are brownish red and shaped a little like the Japanese Hiragana “he” (へ). 

Pterocarpus indicus is the national tree of the Philippines. The very similar Pterocarpus vidalianus Rolfe is now classified as a synonym of this species (the fruit pod of the Pterocarpus vidalianus has spikes). They are heavily exploited for their timber, but are also common street trees in tropical Asian countries. They are considered to be windbreak trees.

2018/05/19 collected Pterocarpus indicus fruits