Durio Ziberthinus (Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand)
The durian fruit is world famous as a love-it-or-hate-it fruit. Much loved by us in Singapore and Malaysia but visitors from foreign lands have been disgusted by this fruit. When you love it, you will find that it is really the king of fruits. No two durians taste the same and there are several varieties that yield heavenly tastes ranging from sweet to bitter and sensory delights in between the two. The flesh is creamy and delicious and durian fans go to great lengths to obtain the best specie like the D24 and of course pay for the name as well.
Durians come to us in lorry loads from Malaysia and when it is durian season, markets are livelier with hawkers giving commentaries, discounts, assurances, guarantees etc that the fruit they are selling is the best. I am fortunate to have a huge durian tree (not in my backyard, no not that lucky) near my house that was grown by people living in a kampong that used to be there. Actually there were two trees but one was chopped down. We are always excited when we see fruits on the trees about twice a year even though we never get to taste the fruit. It is said that the spiky fruits fall to the ground when ripe but only at night. Anyway, there are lots of other more adventurous people around who would trample through thick shrubs to reach the trees and the fruits.
The most exciting time was when I actually saw flowers - bunches and bunches of them with some already forming small fruit. I got my camera that was only a 2-megapixel Olympus at that time and snapped away. Pity that the pictures are not really sharp. Nevertheless, I think there are very few people who really know what durian flowers look like so here they are.
Passiflora laurifolia, Water Lemon
