Dry season in the tropics involve a lot of drama too. The skies are normally fully blue without clouds above. A few cumulus clouds are just very low in the horizon. Lots of flowers emerged at the start of the dry season especially the flowering annuals. As the season progresses, the heat and humidity become scary to mammals. Some soils crack, some trees die, all living things capable of movements hide from the sun's rays during the day, and most grasses, weeds and annuals die. Plants capable of dormancy become dormant as a defensive mechanism to save the species. Those which are more drought and heat tolerant curl their leaves to lessen water loss, painstakingly holding its breath to hopefully wait for the rainy season.
Some plants however seem so happy still for the endless sun's rays. This is exemplified by the tamarind tree, Tamarindus indicus. This is widely distributed in the countries of the tropical belt, where the Philippines is located. It is supposed to be brought here centuries back, and most of us think it is an endemic species for being here since time began, so already considered a naturalized plant in the country.
a tamarind tree near our gate on the other side of the street
This year some unusual rains come once in March and once in May, which allows plants to change their normal systems. Tamarind, which normally blooms at the first heavy rains in June suddenly reacted to the rains. It bloomed early and profusely. The ground beneath a big tamarind tree looks like a carpet of yellow-orange when the petals fell and fruiting started.
These young flowers and young shoots are used in the country as a souring agent for some stews and dishes.
a fruiting branch at the start of flowering and the leaves are still very green
these fruits are already mature and ripe, the leaves are already falling
Tamarind fruits are very sour when unripe but sweet-sour when fully ripe. It has lots of uses from the immature stage to the ripe stage. Different countries have different uses, but there are also common commercial uses. For example it is the main ingredient for making Worcestershire sauce. Its main use is for the food industry, although the seeds are also sources of other products like galactomannans.
old mature tamarind tree
Big old trunks are durable and the bright reddish-brown color at the center of the trunk makes beautiful furniture.
typical bark of tamarind tree
What about the outside bark? Can you think of any use for it?
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My mother-in-law had an enormous Tamarind tree growing right next to her house. They create the most enormous mess when they drop their tiny little leaves! Eventually the tree had to be removed. Absolutely nothing grew around it and it was causing a lot of damage to the roof of the house. It was a real shame to lose the Tamarind as it really looked spectacular when it was in full bloom. I suppose there are always positives and negatives with most trees, especially when they're planted in the wrong spots.
ReplyDeleteYes i can relate so much with your description Bernie. Our tree does like that and it takes a lot of patience to sweep the leaves on the street near us. The most infuriating time is when the fruits fell on the ground, vehicles run over it leaving brown ugly-looking patches. That's not all. All those seeds will sprout later which when not uprooted will become trees too, grrr! But it provides good shade to us and a good wind break against the SW monsoon. Some tall mango trees are near it also for windbreak. By the way, my mother asked someone to prune some branches directly over the street and our gate, so it is a bit clear now! Ten years ago i have cut a big tree in the orchard, because the canopy is so thick and wide not to allow anything underneath. It just rot there because nobody wants to get the trunk. A pity we are far from the authorities!
DeleteVery interesting to be reading about what's occurring in your local ecosystem, both normally and sometimes not-so-normally, in a totally different region of the world from where we're currently located (middle of the Great Plains of North America). I'm new to your blog and very glad that I found it.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, where did the tamarind tree originate? And why was it spread so widely? (Fascinating that it is used to make Worcestershire sauce! I thought, based on the name, that was a totally English product....)
HI Gaia Gardener, i am so pleased you found my site. Yes we really learn a lot from blogging. I read that there is a wide tamarind plantation in South Florida mainly for Worcestershire production. Wikipedia has a very thorough discussion about tamarind and it says it came from South Africa, however it has been with us very very long ago and we feel it is as much Filipino as we are!
Deletewhat a fascinating tree that I have heard of...but boy did I learn so much....and I thought the deserts of the south west US were dry and hot....sounds like a tough time of year.
ReplyDeleteHi Donna, i laughed when Caroline Gill said 20C is already hot to them in UK. We very seldom get that temperature here, only courtesy of the Siberian and Chinese winds in Dec-January. Only our highlands has lower temperatures, which is only in the Cordilleras, a very small part of Luzon.
DeleteExcellent focal tree today!!! Okay what can I tell you about Tamarind...or as they say in Spanish...tamarindo. It's served as a drink in Mexico, but I don't like the taste. It's definitely acquired.....AND in the US, we call police officers "pigs". It's not very nice but that's their nickname. In Mexico, the people call their police officers "tamarindo" for the color of their uniforms since the color matches that of the fruit. I look forward to our monsoon season here....within 3 weeks, the storms will arrive. I can't wait because some of the most spectacular weather happens during this time. Hugs from Tucson. Kreesh
ReplyDeletehahaha, that name is not a very kind word for your police officers! I wonder why Mexican police don't change the color of their uniforms. When i read about tamarind in Wikipedia i realized that it is a very universal fruit, when here it is a very neglected plant and fruit. But we love the sour fruit in our traditional stews of chicken and pork. I hope your thunderstorms will not be as bad as we see previously on TV. Take care.I wont give you hugs cause it is too hot here!
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