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Project Noah Nature School
Hura crepitans
Before sharing spottings from my Madai Trip to you all, I present you with this interesting organism. This Monkey's Dinnerbell tree (Hura crepitans) is more than 10 years old and is standing 4 meters tall. The tree trunk is armed with short large spikes and poisonous sap. The hard fruit looks like a mini-pumpkin and will explode to disperse its seeds. It bears this kind of strange red flowers without petals (in the first photo) which is used as the symbol / logo of the primary school where this plant is spotted. This tree is common in this school, about 10 are planted here. This tree is also seen in open ground in other Tawau schools and 1 is seen in Kunak.
On a grass field in SJK (C) Phui Yuk primary school in Kampung Gudang Empat, in Tawau, Sabah.
>>>Map accuracy : 10km diameter. These photographs are obtained from my father with permission. A special thanks to LennyWorthington for identifying this tree that has accompanied me during the childhood days in this school.
I think this is your tree.It is native in The West Indies.
the sap is poisonous and can cause blindness.
The fruit explodes when ripe.
I will post some pics for you to look at to be sure,but i'm sure it's the same.
Thank you Mark.
I have no close up photographs of other parts of this tree
but I will try to revisit this old school and take more pictures of this tree.
Interesting Chun. I think no fruit visible yet. This looks like a young inflorescence and the red 'flowers' are yet to appear lower and open fully. No more close shots of the stem and leaf arrangement?
Spotted on Nov 14, 2006
Submitted on May 3, 2013
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