Camachile

ByMaria

IMG_5758Camachile – (Pithecellobium dulce) – is a fruit that we eat in the Philippines.  It’s plentiful during the summer season.  The camachile taste sweet but dry.  It has black seeds and we used to play with it. The fruit is unusual because of its coiling.  It looks like a bean and it actually belongs to the pea family. We gather the fruit from the wild because it is not sold in the market.  The tree grows wild and becomes invasive just like its cousin the “kiawe” or Hawaiian mesquite.  The tree can grow up to 15 meters high.  Its branches is thorny and the fragrant flowers flowers attracts certain species of moths, making the plant as host for caterpillars. Birds that eat the sweet pulp disperse the seeds.  the tree is drought tolerant so it can grow anywhere without any human intervention.

Similar Posts

  • Apple Bananas

    ByMaria

    Apple Bananas “Latundan” are such a delight to eat. They also provide your daily dose of potassium. I used to have apple bananas in my garden. I was able to have it flowered and gathered this bunch of bananas. My friend from Wahiawa gave the seedling to me. I thought it would be a dwarf…

  • Tamarind (Sampalok)

    ByMaria

    Tamarind or sampalok as we call it in the Philippines is a versatile fruit. We can make it into candy or jam, we can use it in cooking as a souring agent for the ever popular “sinigang” or you can eat it as it is ripe or raw. Also the leaves were used too in…

  • Breadfruit/Rimas

    ByMaria

    Breadfruit or “Rimas” is a wonderful fruit because it doesn’t taste sweet like most fruits are but instead tastes like potatoes when cooked that’s why to me it is a vegetable. It is called “ulu” in Hawaii. The tree is in the family of mulberry tree that’s why you can use the wood bark as…

  • Dragon Fruit

    ByMaria

    Dragon fruit also called Pitaya is a fruit from a cactus plant which I find interesting. This particular cactus called Hylocereus undatus is where you get this dragon fruit from. I tried to grow them in my garden but I never get a fruit, but at least managed to have a yellow flower which only…

  • |

    Breadfruit

    ByMaria

    Breadfruit is called ‘rimas’ in the Philippines. It is a fruit and vegetable at the same time. We eat the fruit by boiling or grilling and steaming. My grandma always serve us breakfast of boiled “rimas” and freshly grated coconut with sugar. It’s so tasty and good for your health too. It has a texture…