Curuba, Jamaica.........

The other day I was visiting a public garden with my parents when I saw this growing up the stately home wall....

It's a Passiflora sp. which of itself is not unusual, it was growing outside which again of itself is not unusual but then I saw this and my interest was roused.....

In English it's usually known as Banana Passionfruit. In South America this would be known as curuba, tacso or tumbo. Botanically it has almost as many names. The plant was identified as P. mollissima but that is not a good name. It's actually either P. tripartita var. mollissima or P. tarminiana. There was some splitting and I won't know which side of the split this is until (if) it flowers.

According to Lost Crops of the Incas (my go to guide for south american edibles) it...

seems to have been domesticated shortly before the Spanish Conquest. Today, it is cultivated in home gardens and commercial orchards, and the highly prized fruits are regularly available in local markets. Colombia has some outstanding varieties; it has begun exporting the fruits, and has established a national committee to study the biology and agronomy of this species. ⁶

Curuba juice is considered the finest of all passionfruit juices, and a wine is made from it. The fruits are also used in jams, jellies, and gelatin desserts. In addition, the pulp is strained (to remove the seeds), blended with milk and sugar, and served as a drink called “sorbete de curuba.” It is also made into ice cream. Combined with alcoholic liquors (aguardiente) and sugar, it is served as a cocktail.

Naturally I had to have one to go with my other Incan edibles and helpfully they had some strong young plants available....



This is so going up my wall. Incidentally:
a) there are other banana passionfruit sp. including P. mixta which I grew for years with never a sign of a flower.
b) this plant is apparently doing well naturalising up chainlink fences in areas of LA with an ecuadorean community.
c) less happily it's a problematic invasive in Hawaii, PNG and NZ so think carefully if you're Passiflora-ing up in the tropics.
d) the skin is weirdly soft which confused my camera's autofocus terribly.
e) yes that post title is a beach boys pun.

Dinosaur-watching

The rainforest of Queensland, Australia is truly primal country. It represents some of the last vestiges of the great forests of the now split super-continent of Gondwana. As a result it harbour some very old relic like species; primitive macropods, giant snakes and crocodiles, cycads and early conifers.....and something which might passably be considered a dinosaur.

Paleontologists love to point out that birds are basically evolved dinosaurs but lets be honest, sparrows and whatnot don't really cut the dino-mustard do they? The Southern Cassowary on the other hand. Well that looks properly dinosaurish.

 

Exotic head ornamentation? check

Flightless biped? check

"Killing" claw on toes? check

Enormous? check

Bizarre colour scheme? check

Yep. I'm pretty sure it's a dinosaur. It's also probably the "must-see" flagship species for naturalists visiting Queensland so  I was pretty pleased to get these by 10am on day 2.

More on these remarkable birds to come.....

Wordless wednesday: 2011 Harvest II

Hello old friend?

So last saturday I was headed out to dinner with my visiting parents when I got the call that a swarm of bees had been found and my number had come up. The end result was that dinner was cancelled and I was sat at the end of my driveway with a beesuit around my waist and a cuppa in hand waiting for the bees to arrive (or more specifically waiting to direct the guy driving the bees to my house to my house). As  I waited I became aware of a small creeping snuffling presence on the other side of the road.......

A sizeable female hedgehog. Notice that faded green paint? That's a rehab centre marking and I rescued and then released in my garden a sizeable female hedgehog with the same markings last year. I'd like to think it's the same 'hog. Who knows? In any event I wasn't about to let her wander about on the road so....

Those yellow marigolds are my bee-gloves btw (I was dishes bareback). I didn't move her far. Just round the corner into a nice bank bottom full of low growing foliage, slugs and snails. If it is her she's stayed within a 60 yd radius of my house which fits with the territoriality of the species. I suppose the other option is that someone is releasing rehabbed hogs nearby. Either way it was nice to see her and I hope she does well and stays off the roads.....