what tree is this?

paulann1

I saw this tree in Madhya Pradesh and was unable to recognize it. It is a big tree about 25 ft high and 25 ft spread.

The fruits are big about the size of a cucumber. They are hanging from the tree as if someone hung them up by a thread. The fruit is bulky/fleshy with seeds emedded in the flesh (just like bottle gourd), brown hard skin (NOT like a peacan shell), no taste, and smells like bottle gourd. It seems nobody in the locality ate it.

Attached are two pics.

Any idea what tree is this?

thank you!

Attached Thumbnails

 

trooooon

Not sure its the same tree, but i remember seeing something much like it in Mandu! The Sausage tree in Pradeep Krishen's 'Trees of Delhi' is the closest match . . . Last I hears he was writing a trees of Madhya Pradesh, maybe you'd want to check if its out on the shelves yet!

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machadinha

Looks like jackfruit to me.

Could be baobab fruit though; a tree commonly found in the area. But unless the tree had the latter's distinct shape of seemingly growing upside-down with its roots sticking out, I'd say jackfruit. (Or then again, a thick kind of tamarind perhaps...? Hey, I arguably ain't no botanist. I think most tamarind leaves that I at least know would be markedly different though.)

I think the leaves seem to match some of the first jackfruit pics I find too though. Although what I find in a jiffy for baobab leaves those might match as well.

Baobab fruit is said to be somewhat gourd-like btw, and my understanding is it is eaten locally when in season, said to have a quite distinct taste of its own. It wasn't (in season) when I was there.

(... And the more I look at it now, the more I think it isn't jackfruit. Which also tends to grow to be gigantic btw, the fruits I mean. Hm.)

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Brisso

Could be a tamarind tree I think ...

theyyamdancer

I agree that it looks like a tamarind.

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machadinha

It does, doesn't it? But then those leaves...? Not like my Caribbean nor the Spanish kind I know, I think. And are the fruits attached that way? The fruit shape as such though, I'd agree. Hmmm....

I still tend to think if one finds a peculiar tree in the Mandu region, baobab would be the first to spring to my mind. But then there must be all sorts of uncanny things growing there...

machadinha

btw Why not give Tron the credit he deserves then ;

If you check the pics with Wikipedia's article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigelia, that looks to be just it yes.

More results at Google Images et al. no doubt.

(So being said there to be African, why would it grow here? This makes the non-indigenous baobab somewhat unique to the Mandu region, and we had some inconclusive discussion about it here not long ago; it seems to occur along the western coast as well, so it was proposed the fruits had drifted there. In Mandu, it could have likely been introduced by the Arabs or so.

The article on the sausage tree does go on to include pictures from India btw, and mentions that "The tree is widely grown as an ornamental tree in tropical regions for its decorative flowers and unusual fruit"; while cautioning that "Planting sites should be selected carefully, as the falling fruit can cause serious injury to people, and damage vehicles parked under the trees.")

theyyamdancer

Well done, trooooon! Thanks, Mach!

trooooon

Quite fascinating . . . and yeah it gotta hurt if one of those falls on you

In Mandu, I remember the fruit being used in the place of tamrind in the cooking, the hard outer shell yields a sour powder . . . and they did call it boabab if I'm not mistaken! of which I think Lal Bagh (Bangalore) has the only specimen in India.

jyotirmoy

In Bengali this is called "Dhundhul"
In olden days these fruits were dried. When dried the inside becomes like sponge although not very soft. These were then used for scrubbing while taking bath.

Digital Drifter

Well, tamarind fruit/shells are as thick as your fingers and about as long and they come in bunches. so on size alone, it is not. on the colour yes it appears the same.

FYI, as the tree has been identified.

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livinhimalayas

Jack fruit grows on the trunk and branches of the tree and has a short thick stem where it is attached to the bark. I does not hang down like festoons as this fruit seems. As for tamrind the leaves are far too big. Moreover the Jack fruit has a dark almost moss green skin that is very rough.

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suricate

You are talking about the fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca which is a creeper, and not a tree !

This kind of reminded me of the joke about the urbanite speaking of the paddy-tree plank .

abracax

Kigelia africana (pinnata). See them in the south every now and then, I think they may be escaped domesticates. Flowers are pollinated by bats and smell awful.

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mantru

i know i am late at replying however this tree did interest me as i had read an article on boabab and had tried looking for more info in the net but i could find satisfactory links....this tree looks similar but for the shape of the tree which grows in africa...look at this article it says this tree is rich in vitamin c so might be the reason why people use it in place of tamarind.
http://www.baobab-solutions.com/the_baobab.htm

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