Candle Stick Fruit

       Candle Stick Fruit     

       Candle Stick Tree – parmentiera cereifera

The candle tree is native to Panama. The fruits are attached to the trunk and branches and from a distance, it appear like many candles hanging from the tree.  Candle Tree, is a species of tree belongs to bignoniaceae family and is endemic to Panama. The family is affluent in secondary metabolites and contains many genera of high economic and medicinal values. It consists of 104 genera and 860 species. This specimen is commonly cultivated in botanical gardens. 

The tree grows to the height of 6 meters. Leaves are oppositely arranged which consists of three leaflets. Leaflets are glabrous, sub-sessile, elliptic or elliptic obovate and about 1.5 – 7 cm by 0.75 – 3.5 cm. Petioles are winged upto 5 centimeters long. Flowers are solitary which forms in the cluster up to four. Corolla is five lobed and greenish white. Fruit is a taper shaped berry measuring 60 centimeters long. It is green which ripens to yellow and has a waxy texture.  Seeds are ellipsoid, compressed and 2.5 - 3.5 mm long with edible and fleshy pulp.

This tree produced white or yellow funnel-shaped flowers directly on the trunk or larger branches.  These flowers develop into dangling yellow fruits up to three feet in length, and greatly resemble bunches of yellow wax candles hanging from the tree. The edible fruits and seeds are popular in some places in Mexico.

Fruits are yellow, upto 80 cm long, waxy, resembling yellow candles, spongy; edible, juicy, sweet. They have a flavour resembling that of sugarcane.  These are eaten raw as well as cooked. The seeds are edible. Panama candle tree is also grown as an ornamental for its flowers and unusual appearance when the fruits.

Fruit is long, up to one metre or slightly more than three feet in length, and cylindrical in shape. Some fruits are with the tapered end but some are with the rounded end. It may be green or purplish-maroon and will change to yellowish-green, yellow or yellowish-brown when it ripens. These are also made into pickles and preserves. Local people consider the fruits a good remedy for cold. The roots of this tree are used as diuretic.

Panama candle trees are adapted to a wide range of climatic conditions but are most frequently found mostly in high-rainfall forests.  Though it is a tree of tropics, but still it can withstand moderate frosts.  In fact, this tree is adaptable to a wide range of climatic conditions.  In high rainfall areas, this tree grow quite fast. This fruit tree is usually planted more for its unique ornamental display than for its edible fruit.

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