Sunday, March 30, 2008

Pajurá de Óbidos germinating

I think most fruit tree enthusiasts get emotional when seeds germinate, especially if it's a relatively rare tropical fruit, like Pajurá de Óbidos (Pouteria speciosa). The fruit, and seeds obviously, are difficult to come by, even here in Santarém. The one in the image was given to me by a rare fruit collector, who had traveled to the Óbidos area in search of the trees. As a matter of fact, he gave me two seeds. This is the first to germinate. I've written about these seeds and pajurá fruit in the past few weeks. Readers can find them by going to the Blogger search link at the top of the page.

3 comments:

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

What a great picture this is. It must be exciting to see this. I hope the other one germinates, too.

tts said...

I wonder if this plant is the same that in Guyana is known as Suya?

I've just returned from the Northern Rupununi area, near the Brazilian border. In the Iwokrama forest (specifically, Atta Rain Forest Lodge area) the local naturalist guide from the Makushi tribe showed this tree, and its fruits. Around 20 cm in diameter and hard, they pose a significant risk to wildlife travellers, or that was what I was told anyway. Suya was reasonably common in that area which is about 300 m from sea level, and known as 'highlands' by the locals.

Note that I am not that interested tropical risks and hazards, merely trying to find facts about this tree.

BTW you have an interesting blog!

Steven Winn Alexander said...

tts, not likely that it's the same tree.