What makes it so distinctive are two peculiarities: one, pink, waxy, flowers borne not on conventional branches, but sprouting directly from the trunk below the crown; and secondly, large globose fruit that look like huge rusty cannonballs as they dangle on long stems from leafless branches, objects that can remain on the tree for many months.
The heavily scented flowers, especially fragrant at dawn and dusk, are arranged in profuse racemes which are so close together that they can carpet entire sections of the trunk. Each six-petalled flower, in brilliant shades of pink and red, carries a dense yellow mass of stamens at its centre. The blooms are especially attractive to bees, which visit the flowers for pollen rather than nectar.
The spherical fruits, which can contain hundreds of seeds, are large, even by tropical standards ‒ up to 10 inches (25cm) across ‒ and with a tough, woody shell. Seed dispersal is usually by animals. Not for the small plot, the cannonball tree is more likely to be found in a private park or botanic garden than in your neighbour’s patch. But what a sensational addition to your tropical estate. And in the right conditions, the seeds should germinate readily.
You don’t expect to encounter the cannonball on a regular basis – I know of only three specimens in Phuket ‒ but other trees with bizarre labels such as the pong-pong and sausage tree, are more widely distributed around the island. Of these, the one you are most likely to encounter is the pong-pong, or cerbera odollam. A hardy native of Malaysia, this member of the apocynaceae genus grows to a height of about 10 metres and is cultivated in tropical gardens on account of its glossy leaves and continuous display of fragrant clusters of white flowers with yellow centres which open at branch tips. I know several resorts on the island where the pong-pong has been planted at the edges of car parks or other open spaces. There are several, probably self-sown, decorating the road from Chalong as it snakes upwards towards Kata.
But its real appeal for many gardeners lies in its large globose fruit ‒ glossy, green spheres that look most attractive on the tree. If you are contemplating a shady presence, this is definitely one to consider, since the dense crown has layered, evergreen foliage. Moreover, it can be propagated from seed or cuttings and begins flowering after a couple of years. Just remember that in common with most members of the family, the fruits and milky sap are both poisonous. Another species, C. manghas grows in the wild and may be easier to cultivate. A smaller tree, it crops up in coastal swaps and thickets behind beaches, though, like the mangrove, it is a much diminished presence.
There it may keep company with the seagrape, or coccoloba. Not an Asian native, the seagrape can now be found growing wild along Phuket’s shoreline, or employed in gardens as a salt-resistant ornamental tree. Tough and drought proof, it has stiff, prominently veined leaves which are sap green in colour. Almost round, they look very attractive. Hence, one popular name of platter leaf tree.
The flowers are fragrant and appear in racemes up to eight inches long, but it is the long bunches of small, berry-like fruit – reminiscent of peppers- that steal the show. Used locally for making jellies, these green to red clusters give the tree its common name of seagrape. A robust tree and ideal for windy, saline conditions, it is being used more and more by knowledgeable landscapers around the island. Give it full sun and well-drained conditions. A useful shade tree, it is suitable for sizeable gardens.
If you think the seagrape and pong-pong are odd, how much more bizarre is the sausage tree (kigelia pinnata). Grown less for its visual appeal than for its novelty value, it is a medium-sized tree from the jungles of west Africa and bears dark red flowers. Unfortunately, they are malodorous and possess a pungent smell.
But again it is the inedible fruit that is the main attraction: in this case, not spherical fruit but sausage shaped monsters that may be more than a foot long and weigh several kilograms. A rival to other behemoths such as durian and jackfruit, I have not seen the tree in Phuket, but would be delighted to hear of any sightings…
Patrick Campbell’s book ‘The Tropic Gardener’, described in one Bangkok review as the best book on Thai gardening for 50 years, is available for B500 (half price) to personal callers from 59/84 Soi Saiyuan 13 in Rawai (Tel: 076-613227 or 085-7827551).