Toucheng Farm is indeed rich in ecology. Many trees and plants grow here abundantly. Some are edible and some could be non edible.Two kinds of trees caught my attention specifically.
Money tree ( Pachira aquatica, malabar chestnuts):
Its leaves are shiny green palmate-like.
Its flowers are like hair with yellowish orange stamens.
Its fruits produce edible chestnuts which when roasted, tastes like peanuts.
One legend tells of a poor man who prayed for money., and found this strange plant. Believing in his prayers, he planted and cared for it, until it grew with plentiful seeds. He became rich selling chestnuts, thus called it: "money tree".
On the other hand, Sea mango tree (cerbera manghas):
Its leaves are dark green with alternate ovoid shape.
Its flowers are fragrant, white 5 petals with red at the center.
Its fruits are egg-shaped and turn bright red when mature.
Sea mango's leaves and fruits are poisonous as they contain a potent cardiac substance called cerberin. In Madagascar, it is said, they used its seeds to poison kings or queens in sentence rituals.
Wikipedia claims that all of sea mango's parts are poisonous, never light a fire using its wood. its smoke is also poisonous.
Identifying these 2 kinds of trees, increases your knowledge and could save a life.
They, too, are part of our world, live with us and makes it more interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment