The Jering tree and fruits

The Jering tree is partly seen at middle ground of picture
Location : Zone G

Jering fruit (seed)

The Jering (Pithelobium lobatum) tree that is located beside the road at Zone G is a large tree.  Today I started to clear the undergrowth around the tree in order to make way for convenient access to the tree. I have not checked this tree earlier and to my surprise it is bearing fruits.  In Bintulu, the Melanau elders love to boil the Jering fruit, which is this case is actually the seed (see inset) and eat it together with fresh grated coconut in palm sugar.   I love Jering for 'Ulam' (Malay) which is akin to eating it as salad.  To make the Jering more palatable as a salad, it is better to eat it with a prepared paste of Bintulu 'belacan' pounded with anchovies, a bit of red chilies and ginger.

The Jering fruit is believed to be able to cure high blood pressure.

Clearing work around the Jering tree.

Between a Monocot and a Dicot

Bamboo species at the background, Jering trunk at the foreground.
Bamboo = Monocotyledon (monocot)
Jering = Dicotyledon (dicot)
Location : Zone G

 In the classification of the plant world or kingdom, plants bearing seeds are divided into two main categories- Gymnosperms (seed plants without flowers e.g. cycads, conifers); and Angiosperms (seed plants with flowers).  The Angiosperms are divided into Monocotyledon (monocot) and Dicotyledon (dicot).  Monocots are flowering plant with one seed leaf at germination stage and Dicots are flowering plants with two seed leaves.  In the above picture the Bamboo belongs to the monocots which have parallel-veined leaves as in the grasses, bamboos and palms.  In this group of plants new shoots are typicaclly produced from the base or rhizomes, tubers or bulbs.  Dicots on the other hand have veins that form a net-like pattern on the leaves.  Dicots typically have bark-cambium-wood organisation.  The Jering (Malay) - Pithecolobium lobatum is a good example of a dicot.

Nibong (Malay) - a palm that grows wild at Zone C
Family : Palmae - Palm family
A monocot example

Flushes in the park

Pometia pinnata - Kasai (Malay)

Dillenia suffructicosa - Simpoh air (Malay)

 In a broad sense we need colour in a park to make it a beautiful and memorable place  to visit.  In the evergreen tropical forest environment, flushes are a welcome change providing an autumn-like atmosphere that can actually be seen throughout the year.  I am fortunate to have a good collection of native plant species that produce varying colours of young leaves.  Among the significant ones are the Pawas, Simpoh air, Jering and Balem trees.  To make the flushes appear many times, I have introduced many other tree species like the Ceylon Ironwood , Eugenia oleina and  Kasai . 

Messua ferrea - Ceylon Ironwood

 The Ceylon Ironwood tree produces young leaves in pink flushes and they hang limply in tassels until they become harder and leathery.

a jungle plant species, native to the park..

Eugenia oleina - Syn: Syzygium campanulatum

The Eugenia oleina trees was the first batch of trees I introduced here as roadside trees along the park roads.  They have small narrow pointed leaves and produce young leaves in appealing pink colours. The oleina trees when in flower attract hordes of butterfly species, birds and bees.  At fruiting stage the fruits are savoured by the Philippine glossy starling birds and bulbuls .

Eugenia oleina

Pawas

 The Pawas tree is native to the park.  To the best of my knowledge I noticed that after a season of arrival at the park, the Philippine Glossy starling birds would leave behind seeds of the Pawas in their droppings from which later sprang hundreds of seedlings of the Pawas tree in the forest undergrowth.  The young leaves of the Pawas can be eaten raw as salad or 'ulam' in Malay.

Pawas , belong to the Lauraceae or Laurel family.

Pithecolobium lobatum - Jering (Malay)

 The 'Jering' tree produces fruits that can be eaten in many ways, as salads or desserts.  Its young leaves are a maroon in colour and very attractive to see at a distance.

I guess I will try in future to add more tree species that have colourful flushes to make the park full of colours at any time of the year because some flushes envelope whole trees or canopies and appear very regularly throughout the year.

Pithecolobium lobatum - Jering (Malay)