Re: Tree Identification

Moira,

I am not able to view your website for some reason, but from your description (mostly of the circumstances) I would believe it likely to be Tamarindus indica.
One of my earliest memories of Costa Rica of 35 years ago, was soon after arrival stopping at a roadside pulperia and having an icy drink of tamarindo.  In the ensuing months I consumed many glasses of the stuff.  One of course can have the same flavored drink with bottled italian soda syrup, but it is not the same as when made with the pulp of the tamarindo pod and iced milk (and of course sugar or cane juice for sweetener).  Now (in Berkeley, California) one can even buy tamrindo pods at the produce store and make your own.  

Unfortunately for the wildlife, Costa Rica has become developed since then, and is overrun with tourists, its own and north american.  It was a shock to go back 10 years ago and view from the air the vast amounts of pastureland that had been pristine tropical forest at the time I lived there.  As everywhere in the tropics, the building of roads foretold doom for the forests. Thankfully the country has preserved a realtively large percentage of its land in national parks, with an an attempt to preserve some of most types of habitat.

The tree is from the african tropics, and is apprently grown now in the tropics worldwide. I found a photo on the web at:
  http://www.floridata.com/ref/T/tama_ind.cfm

Richard Starkeson
San Francisco, California

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

Tony and Moira Ryan wrote:


>"I came home from Costa Rica with a seed from a tree which has a very
>interesting leaf structure.  The seeds are lima bean sized and grow in
>large brown pods about 8 inches long.  The pods are sold at roadside
>stands
>as a delicacy.  The seed coating is delicious.   The leaf starts out
>looking normal enough, but  keeps growing at the tip into a  "Y" shape.
>I
>have posted a picture of it on my web
>site:    http://home.usadatanet.net/~sculp/Greenhouse/Unknown.JPG.";
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index