Dead Sea Apple Fruit and Seeds

Description:

"In his Biblical Researches in Palestine, Edward Robinson describes it as the fruit of the Asclepias gigantea vel procera, a tree 10–15 feet high, with a grayish cork-like bark called osher by the Arabs. He says the fruit resembled a large, smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three or four. When pressed or struck, it exploded with a puff, like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hand only the shreds of the thin rind and a few fibers. It is filled chiefly with air, which gives it the round form. In the center a small slender pod runs through it which contains a small quantity of fine silk, which the Arabs collect and twist into matches for their guns." ~ wiki

Habitat:

"Native to North Africa, Tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia, and Indochina." ~ wiki

Notes:

The photo of the mature fruit was taken on May 19, the seeds on June 7. At this time of the year in Dahab, the air is full of these seeds flying around! This fruit is growing on a tree that grew after one of these wild seeds found its way into my garden 2 or 3 years ago. This is the tree's first fruit. >>The sap of this tree is toxic and is reported to cause blindness. >>aka Sodom Apple