| This is a
rag-bag of things botanical, waiting to be organized properly. Many
of the fruit, herbs and vegetables shown here are native to the
island, and others have been introduced by various
colonists. |
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| Pano-on - a forest epiphyte
that has pods of very sweet little fruit, like a pomegranate.
Much favoured by local children |
Pako - a forest fern but used for salads |
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Kulo - Breadfruit -
This one is not quite ripe, so it had to be boiled a little to make
it tender. A ripe one is perfectly splendid, sliced and fried with
eggs, bacon and baked beans.
The
breadfruit is native to Polynesia where it is baked, boiled or fried
as a starchy, potato-like vegetable and made into bread, pie and
puddings. In 1789 Britain sent Captain Bligh on the H.M.S. Bounty to
Tahiti to collect breadfruit cuttings for introduction into the New
World colonies. Enchanted with the Tahitian way of life, the crew
mutinied on the return voyage, putting Bligh off at sea in a small
boat with 18 loyal followers. Bligh and his men survived a
3,618-nautical mile, 41-day trip to the East Indies. Undaunted, he
returned to Tahiti on a second voyage and successfully introduced
breadfruits into the West Indies in 1793. |
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| This
is a strange kind of fig tree - it grows in my garden, the
fruit sprouting straight from the trunk of the tree. Next year, I
will find out if it has those strange wasps that only grow in
certain fig trees and have a very complicated sex life. They're
perfectly edible (I'm not dead yet) but no locals eat them. |
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| Well, of course
you recognize a Rambutan, from your local supermarket. |
And everyone's
eaten Kapaja
(Papaya) - but have you ever wondered
what the little ones look like?
Papaya is the source of papain, used in meat tenderizing powders.
The milky sap from unripe fruits, the leaves and stem can be used to
tenderize meat. CAUTION: Be
careful not to get the milky sap into your eyes. It will cause
intense pain and temporary - sometimes even permanent -
blindness. |
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| Lansones -
Very like lychees. The best come from Camuigin island.
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Kapi - A hard-shelled sour little
fruit with crinkly brown seeds. Its local name means
'coffee'
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| Tambis - A fig fruit, I think,
but tart and sweet at the same time. |
Makupa - tastes like a crab-apple
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| Piso na Saging - banana bud for salads |
Guyabano |
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| Bo-ngon possibly an Ugli fruit |
Langka - Jackfruit |
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| Balibayon - Wild tree fruit used to
favour kinilaw |
Kalamunggay (Malunggay) - Vitamin-filled
leaves for soup. |
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| Gapas - Wild flowers give cotton wool,
leaves, roots and make a tisane for coughs. The juice can
also be used as a liniment |
Hilbas - Used as a tisane, liniment, etc. I think this
may be 'Chinese' coriander |
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Bito-on tree - Beautiful
flower but inedible fruit
This, I've since discovered, is a
Barringtonia tree - see Eco-Friendly Fsh Poisons |
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| My local vegetable
store |
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| Sigadillas & Sitaw Two
strange kinds of beans - stringy beans and frilly
beans |
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| Ube - Yam - Makes the
world's only purple ice cream |
Gabi tapul - Taro for soup,
etc |
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| Singkamas - Crispy radishy
vegetable for salads |
Kamote tops - one of the few green vegetables
available |
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| Pandan - leaves for banig - sleeping mats
Prop roots - Uyangu - peeled and split as wall
covering
It also has a very beautiful
fruit. |
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| Anahaw Palm -
best fans available |
Nipa Palm - thatch for roofing, fruit makes nipa
'wine' - Pa-oroi |
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| Orchids - Almost all houses in
General Luna have an orchid or two, bound in a coconut husk,
and attached to a coconut tree or fence. Most of them are wild, from
the nearby forest. |
Calachuchi - Frangipani |
