| Positive | Monocromatico | On Nov 24, 2003, Monocromatico from Rio de Janeiro
Brazil (Zone 11) wrote:As I understand (I may be mistaken, just got this information extra-officially), this plant is a hawaiian native that got very well adapted to the brazilian climate, specially in coastal areas. Here in Rio de Janeiro there are a lot of these planted near the beaches, getting the salty mist from the sea directly.
This is a not fast growing tree, reaching up to 10m tall, but usually staying around 5. The leaves are shiny, kinda leathery, oposite, and has a white to cream colored sap. The inflorescence is a white stemmed panicle, bearing 5 to many more white flowers. There are 1in wide, white, with many yellow stamens and a very good scent (kinda reminds me of the smell of Bonnetias. The ovarium (hidden in the middle of the stamens) is red. These flowers come out in late spring and goes on through summer. The fruits are round, starting light green, becoming tan or yellow when ripe. They are said to be edible, but since the white sap of this plant can be poisonous - just like the seeds - I never tried them myself.
It goes well under full sun, high temperatures, regular watering and well drained fertile soils - even though itīs planted near the see, I donīt see it surviving on beach sand. It doesnīt mind wind, and I guess it needs some sea mist. |
