Category: Biodiversity

Mangosteen is famous for taking forever, and ours has lived up to that reputation. The Basics Mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana, is a slow-growing tree in the family Clusiaceae, often called the “queen of fruits.” Origin and Habitat Native to the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia, where it grows best in consistently warm, humid, tropical conditions. What…

Mamey sapote seeds are one of the ingredients in tejate, a traditional drink from Oaxaca, and I like knowing our tree connects to something that old and specific. The Basics Mamey sapote, Pouteria sapota, is a tree in the family Sapotaceae. Origin and Habitat Native to Mexico and Central America. What It Looks Like A…

Another one that’s been on the species list since early in the one-tree-a-day year. The Basics Mamey apple, Mammea americana, is a tree in the family Calophyllaceae — a different family and fruit entirely from mamey sapote, despite the similar name. Origin and Habitat Native to the Caribbean and northern South America. What It Looks…

First time I tried marang it was melty soft, milky sweet like almond tofu, and refreshing. The Basics Marang, Artocarpus odoratissimus, is a tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, part of the same family as breadfruit, jackfruit, breadnut, and pedalai. Origin and Habitat Native to Borneo, the Philippines, and parts of Malaysia. What It Looks…

A solid, reliable lemon, does exactly what you’d want it to. The Basics Meyer lemon, Citrus meyeri, is a citrus tree in the family Rutaceae, believed to be a natural hybrid of lemon and mandarin or orange. Origin and Habitat Native to China, now widely grown around the world as a popular home garden citrus.…

This particular tree was long forgotten under a nursery table, grow bag all tattered, barely any soil left in it. I normally would have chucked something like that onto the compost pile, but it still had vitality in it. The Basics Milo, Thespesia populnea, is a native Hawaiian hardwood tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae.…

Joe gave me a ripe araza once and we tried it with miracle berry alongside it, which cancels out sourness entirely. The Basics Miracle berry, Synsepalum dulcificum, is a shrub in the family Sapotaceae. Origin and Habitat Native to West Africa. What It Looks Like A small shrub bearing small red berries, unremarkable in appearance…

Cracked open eight of these once, pulp way thicker than regular cacao, almost like raw scrambled egg in color and sliminess. The Basics Mocambo, also called jaguar cacao, Theobroma bicolor, is a cacao relative in the family Malvaceae. Origin and Habitat Native to Central and South America, historically significant to the Maya, who called it…

We call it kalamungay or marunggay here, essential to Filipino cooking. The Basics Moringa, Moringa oleifera, is a fast-growing tree in the family Moringaceae. Origin and Habitat Native to the sub-Himalayan regions of India, now grown throughout the tropics for how useful and drought-tolerant it is. What It Looks Like A slender, fast-growing tree with…

There seems to always be one more relative in this family worth tracking down. The Basics Pedalai, Artocarpus sericicarpus, is a tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae. Origin and Habitat Native to Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. What It Looks Like Similar in general form to its Artocarpus relatives like jackfruit and marang. Uses and…