Sunday, February 09, 2020

This Plant....

This plant which appeared all on it's own in the garden growing in the shade of the chicken coop has been a complete mystery until a friend identified it yesterday.
It is a Guiana chestnut tree.
Having moved it into a pot it is finally thriving in the spot I moved it to.
Native to central America I was quite thrilled to learn what the plant actually is.
I will need to move it from the pot at some stage as these trees can reach heights of up to 18 metres, so I will have to find a corner of the garden where it can spread it's roots.
The tree produces Malabar chestnuts, which sound awfully delicious they can be eaten raw and taste like peanuts, however if you cook them they then taste like chestnuts.
Not sure how long it will take to fruit, but I am looking forward to the first harvest.


From the research I have done, in South America tribes have use the tree  for respiratory aliments, so this tree is a handy addition to my own healing garden, and the flowers are pollinated by bats in it's native countries, so I now am wondering whether my tree will attract some local bats to do the same with mine.
A mysterious addition to my garden, I have never even heard of the plant before, let alone eaten one so I am wondering where the seed for this plant actually came from.
The wondrous magic of life once again leaves me speechless.....

1 comment:

William Kendall said...

I've never heard of that before.