Sewer-Like

No More That

Smell?

From a Cook Islands Correspondent Avarua’s rare durian tree, whose fruit has been compared to

“French custard passed through

a sewer pipe”, has been struck

by lightning, and its days may

be numbered!

A LIGHTNING bolt stripped a piece of bark from top to bottom of the trunk and although there was no burning, the leaves are withering and dropping off and it is feared the tree has had such a shock that it will die.

Avarua’s rare specimen which is growing at the Government experi mental farm Rarotonga, first re ceived prominence in 1931 when Dr.

Gerrit P. Wilder wrote about it in his Flora of Rarotonga, published by the Bishop Museum. He said the specimen had been introduced from the East, but had neither flowers nor fruit. Its botanical name was Durio zibethinus murray, but it was well known as the Durian tree in the East Indies and Malaya.

In 1953, when a Dutch professor wrote to Rarotonga asking about the tree, the government was able to report that it was growing well and producing flowers and fruit.

What it Looks Like Dr. Gerrit gives this description of the durian tree in his book: “A very large, stately, upright tree, indigenous to Malaya, but now seldom found in a wild state, com monly cultivated in the Straits, Burma, Java, etc., for the sake of its celebrated fruit.

“The latter, produced on strong, mature branches, varies somewhat in shape from round to ovoid, is yellow when ripe and usually weighs from 6 to 8 lb, sometimes as much as 10 lb or more.

“It is armed with thickly set, sharp pointed spikes about half an inch long, and possesses when mature a very offensive odour, more especially so on first acquaintance.

The white custard-like pulp sur rounding the seed is highly relished and regarded as an aphrodisiac by Malays and others; it is also esteemed by some Europeans who acquire a taste for it once the smell is overcome.

“It has been described as ‘re sembling blanc-mange, delicious as the finest cream’, whilst according to Russel Wallace ‘the sensation of eating durians is worth a voyage to the East’.

“Others have compared it to French custard passed through a sewer-pipe.”