Thu-ta-bat, Maya Fruit and the Extinct Dodo

It was in April 2013 that I tasted a fruit that I had never seen before. It was brought by my friend from Twantay, a town on the bank of the Twantay canal connecting Yangon River and the Ayarwady River. It was shaped somewhat like a pear with smooth yellow skin and cracked from a drop from the tree. My friend told me its name—Tuttapat fruit, and I had never heard of it either.

 Soon as I opened the fruit I saw the big brown seed that looked unmistakably like the seed of a Tha-gya-thee we can buy in fruit stalls here. Luckily, I knew that Tha-gya-thee (Malnikara zapota or Acharas zapota) is a member of the Sapotaceae family. So I looked for Sapotaceae on the Web and concluded that Tuttapat is a fruit of the genus Pouteria which are natives of the Central and South Americas but commercially grown in Africa and tropical Asia.

So I was very confident and said this in my presentation to friends:  'But it was easy to identify that the “Tuttapat” fruit of Twante said to be reserved for the royalty in the olden days is just a fruit of the Sapotaceae family native to Mexico & Central America. It is the “Canistel” (Pouteria campechiana).'

It is said that Mayan youths gather mature, green canistel fruit from dense evergreen trees planted near their homes. The fruit are placed in the cooled ashes of the fire and left to ripen to a golden yellow.

So Tuttapat is a Tha-gya-thee of a kind different from the familiar brown, rough skinned Tha-gya-thee (Manilkara zapota) we get in the markets in Myanmar. The latter is commercially grown in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Mexico.

As far as I am concerned, the case is closed. Tuttapat is nothing other than a fruit tree of the Sapotaceae family. Specifically, Pouteria campechiana the Canistel fruit, if I am not wrong.  However, my last minute check before writing this post was a real surprise. I discovered quite by accident that there is a tree in Myanmar called Thu-ta-bat according to the "A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs, and Climbers of Myanmar" (p. 366), of 2003. Its scientific name is Sideroxylon grandiflorum. The base version for that list, the "List of Trees, Shrubs, Herbs, and Principal Climbers etc. Recorded from Burma" of 1961, gives its Myanmar name as Thuttabat or Taw-thabut. From these it seems certain that there is a tree called Thu-ta-bat or Thuttabat or Tuttapat of Twentay (if it is the same as the former two names pronounced a slightly different way) native to Myanmar.

However, the search on the Web for Sideroxylon grandiflorum gives it as edemic to Mauritius. As can be seen, its seed is protected by a hard cover. The Tuttaput fruit from Twentay, on the other hand, has just the seed of a regular sapote fruit as I had tasted the fruit and seen the seed myself. This is the conclusive proof that Tuttapat couldn't be Sideroxylon grandiflorum.

As for the Sideroxylon grandiflorum it is interestingly connected with the extinct flightless bird Dodo of Mauritius.

Dodos were slaughtered in large numbers by sailors and settlers, and pigs which were introduced to the island voraciously ate the dodo eggs. The last dodo was killed in 1681—less than 180 years after it was first described.” (Creation 14(1):21 Dec, 1991, by Robert Doolan)

The theory that Sideroxylon grandiflorum needs Dodo for seed germination, once sensational news, was disproved (TopTropicals.com, https://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Sideroxylon_sp.htm).

In 1973, it was thought that endemic to Mauritius, Sideroxylon grandiflorum (Tambalacoque, Dodo Tree) was dying out. There were supposedly only 13 specimens left, all estimated to be about 300 years old. It was hypothesized that the Dodo, which became extinct in the 17th century, ate tambalacoque fruits, and only by passing through the digestive tract of the Dodo could the seeds germinate. However, further research proved that the situation is not as bad as it seemed. The scientists tried to force-feed Tambalacoque fruit to other animals, such as wild turkeys, and did get some seeds germinated. The Tambalacoque seeds, passed through digestive systems of Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Geochelone gigantea) had pretty good gemination rate, and yet the seedlings appeared to be more vigorous and disease-resistant. To aid the seed in germination, botanists now use turkeys and gem polishers to erode the endocarp to allow germination. Tambalacoque is highly valued for its wood in Mauritius, which has led some foresters to scrape the pits by hand to make them sprout and grow. So the species seems to be out of danger now; besides, young trees are not distinct in appearance and may easily be confused with similar species.

Because of that if Sideroxylon grandiflorum really grows in Myanmar, either endemic or introduced, it would be great news to the scientific community.

As for the Tuttapat trees of Twentay, from what I could make out they are most likely the Canistel (Pouteria campechiana). According to World Agroforestry Centre, Canistel is an erect tree and generally not more than 8 m tall, but it may, in favorable situations, reach height of 27-30 m and the trunk may attain diameter of 1 m.

From the photos available, the Twentay trees look considerably taller than the norm and if they indeed are Canistel, they would be incredibly old and seem not so productive now. If so, they should be preserved under some form of monumental trees program and assist the owner to protect against the imminent danger of being cut down.

Myitzu-thaka-natpan for the masses

Myitzu-thaka the flower of the gods, when I first heard of it as a young government employee, was so rare that it was accessible only to the most powerful person in our country at that time for a regular supply for consumption. We commoners had no idea of what it looks like or how potent were its mystical powers.  As told by a fellow officer, I vaguely remember that the flowers were collected from a tall tree or a vine in some place at the west bank of the Ayarwady River, somewhere in central Myanmar.

Quite recently I heard about some oil produced from the seeds of a tree having the miraculous powers of healing wounds and preventing cancers. This tree is said to be found only in the Tanintharyi peninsula at the southern extreme of Myanmar and its name is Kanzaw.

Looking up for it at http://botany.si.edu/pubs/CUSNH/vol_45.pdf I found four species of Madhuca growing in Myanmar and was surprise to find out that Myitzu-thaka flower and Kanzaw oil come from the same tree. Another surprise is that Kanzaw is the same as Meze which I had heard of as an oil producing tree.

Moreover, the list shows that the Tanintharyi Kanzaw might be Ye-meze (M. lobii) rather than Meze (M. longifolia). I couldn't find the picture of M. lobii, but it may have more or less the same kind of sweet flowers that is edible. So, if anyone can have access to a Meze or Kanzaw or Ye-kanzaw tree nearby, this person can collect and eat the natpan or god's flower without paying high prices from hawkers who won't tell you that Myitzu-thaka and Kanzaw and Meze is the same tree, or from those who would sell you fakes.

All you need to do is get up early in the morning and collect the flowers that bloomed at night and drop at dawn. The flowers could be eaten raw or dried in the sun and kept for a long time.

Just look for the information on the Web about this tree on the uses and medicinal properties of its leaves, flowers, seeds and oil extracted from them if you are interested.

The tree is found in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. It commences bearing at about 10 years old, and produces flowers in March and April and fruits in May and June in India.

I've read and heard about Meze tree, but haven't really seen it. So I asked two of my friends one of whom is living in Manadalay in central Myanmar. Here's a convenience guide for you to spot Meze trees.  They told me that there is a row of Meze trees under which you can get snacks and soft drinks close to the famous U Bein teak bridge in Amarapura, not very far from Mandalay. Too bad, I find lots of photos of U Bein Bridge on the Web, but none showing Meze trees.

The Tree Associated with the Birth of Buddha

In Asoka (Saraca indica Linn)—A Cultural and Scientific Evauation, 1972, Biswas and Debnath mentioned that Mayadevi while holding a branch of a tree in Lumbini garden gave birth to Buddha and according to Nidana Katha, it was a Sala (Shorea robusta); to Mahavastu it was a plaksa; according to Huien-Tsang it was an Asoka tree (Saraca indica).

In Forests and Trees Associated with Lord Buddha (http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_139_02.pdf), Bisanta Badari, mentioned many different trees and the forests existing at the time of Buddha. Of particular interest is the association of five types of trees associated with birth of Buddha, of which the Asoka tree (Thawka in Myanmar) is said to be identifiable from the leaves depicted in various sculptural panels of Buddha's nativity scene. He listed Asoka (Thawka), Pipal, Sala or Sal, Mango, and Plaksha. 

The birth of Buddha is described in Nidana Katha (http://www.kelasa.org/book/English/rhys_davids__buddhas_birth_stories.pdf) as:

Now between the two towns there is a pleasure grove of sal-trees belonging to the people of both cities, and called the Lumbini grove. At that time, from the roots to the topmost branches, it was one mass of fruits and flowers; and amidst the blossoms and branches swarms of various-coloured bees, and flocks of birds of different kinds roamed warbling sweetly. The whole of the Lumbini grove was like a wood of variegated creepers, or the well-decorated banqueting hall of some mighty king. The Queen beholding it was filled with the desire of besporting herself in the sal-tree grove; and the attendants carrying the queen, entered the wood. When she came to the monarch sal-tree of the glade, she wanted to take hold of a branch of it, and the branch bending down, like a reed heated by steam, approached within reach of her hand. Stretching out her hand she took hold of the branch, and then karma-born winds shook her. The people, drawing a curtain round her, retired. Standing, and holding the branch of the sal-tree, she was delivered.

I am ignorant of the exact source from which most of us Myanmar Buddhists have drawn our belief on the tree of Buddha's birth. In our traditional notion it has been an Ingyin tree.  Because of that, at least one source of our belief could be the Nidana Katha as we have seen. Leaving aside the possibility that Buddha's birth tree could be another kind of tree like Asoka (Thawka in Myanmar) or other, I felt we need to be clear about what the Sal tree of Lumbini is, and what it is not.

When I googled for Sal tree images I was surprised to find half of them are pictures of Cannonball tree labeled wrongly as Sal (Shorea robusta). So I wasn't surprised when I found one webpage [Flora in Myanmar Culture: Ingyin and Myatlay in Waso (July), 31 July 2014, Today magazine] by a Myanmar scholar that committed the same error.

The Cannonball tree with the mass of flowers on the trunk seems to me a most unattractive tree for a queen to hold onto a branch while it is in flower, or in fruit, or even when it is bare of flowers or fruits. Besides, the tree is a native of south Americas and not of India or Nepal.

In one webpage for example, Significant Buddhist Trees (not Bodhi tree), 1 April 2013 (http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=16314), Shorea robusta was mentioned but the picture of Couroupita guianensis was shown and the error becomes glaring when it says " Sal is one of the most important sources of hardwood timber in India, with hard, coarse-grained wood that is light in colour when freshly cut, but becomes dark brown with exposure.  The wood is resinous and durable, and is sought-after for construction, although not well suited to planing and polishing. The wood is specially suitable for constructing frames for doors and windows. The dry leaves of sal are a major source for the production of leaf plates and leaf bowls in northern and eastern India."

That was in fact the description for the Shorea robusta of the family Dipterocarpaceae that include, for example, Myanmar hardwood trees like In, Kanyin, Thingan, Thitya, and Ingyin. In contrast the Cannonball tree is a softwood tree of the family Lecythidaceae native to northeastern South America (see Encyclopedia Britannica).

I looked in my standard references for "Ingyin".

The last two sentences in the above dictionary entry referring to the Cannonball tree clearly state that (i) the tree is called Cannonball tree due to the shape of the fruit, and (ii) though not a member of Ingyin (Dipterocarpaceae) family it is wrongly called Lumbini Ingyin in Myanmar.

On the other hand, source-4 in the above table stated that Shorea robusta is a cultivated species known as Lon-mani-ingyin or sal. I think herein is confusion with what Myanmars popularly called Lon-mani-ingyin (or Lumbini Ingyin) which is the Cannonball tree, with the correct species: Shorea robusta. I very much doubt that Sal (Shorea robusta) would be cultivated for flowers. It is common knowledge that the Cannonball tree is cultivated and its flowers sold as Lon-mani-ingyin in Myanmar. Myanmars cherished this flower all the while assuming that it is the flower associated with the Queen Maha Maya giving birth to Buddha in the Sal grove of Lumbini.

As for a good deal of confusion over misidentifying the Sal with the Cannonball tree internationally, I can think of no good explanation. In the post How Sal Trees arrived in Sri Lanka, Dr. Lakshman Ranasinghe (http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/38684-how-sal-trees-arrived-in-sri-lanka.html) told how the Cannonball tree as well as the Sal arrived in his country.

Sal is not native to Sri Lanka and the first tree was sown at Paradeniya Botanical Gardens in February 29, 1980, by the late King Birendra Bir Shah Dev of Nepal, and, flowered in May, 2012. Lately, seeds of the Indian Sal were brought from Nepal, and were germinated in Peradeniya Gardens. More than 900 plants raised from the seeds of the Sal Tree of Southern Nepal, have been gifted to temples around Sri Lanka. 

The Cannonball tree was introduced into Ceylon in 1881, and has abundantly flowered and flourished since 1898. It is often seen beside the temples and has been in effect the Sal Tree substitute for Sri Lanka. Because of the religious linkages, it seems quite possible that we got our Couroupita guianensis from Sri Lanka. We could not rule out the possibility that we got this tree from India also. Incidentally, it is interesting that two movies on the life of Buddha, one in Sri Lanka and another in India has been released quite recently. According to Dr. Ranasinghe, they both depicted Queen Maha Maya giving birth to Buddha under a Cannonball tree in the Sri Lankan version, and what looks like the Cannonball tree also in the Indian version. He felt they should correct the scenes to show the Sal tree instead.

This nativity scene painted in Myanmar traditional style quite some time before the Cannonball tree became established around 1898 in Sri Lanka, unmistakably shows Shorea and not the Cannonball tree. So the mistaken identity of the Buddha's birth tree must have come into the life of we Myanmars at least after this picture had been painted.

Nevertheless, the following notes by Bikhu Nyanasushita (What is the Real Sal Tree?, 2010) make me realize that such confusions may not have existed solely between Sal and Cannonball tree or confined only to countries like Sri Lanka or Myanmar or Thailand and could have extended to more diverse tree species and countries.

There are no reports of cannonball trees forming groves and they are not growing in the wild in Asia.

... Since its introduction from South America, the cannonball tree has become a sacred tree in both the Buddhist and Hindu traditions. In Hindu India it is planted in Shiva temples and is called Shiv Kamal or Nagalingam. The flowers are said to resemble the hood of a Nāga (sacred cobra) protecting a Shiva linga. The planting of cannonball trees as sacred trees can only be a recent addition to these traditions for it is certainly not the sal tree of the ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts.

In Japan yet another pretty tree with large white flowers, the deciduous camellia or Stewartia pseudocamellia, is regarded as the sal tree. It is called shāra, 沙羅, from Sanskrit śāla. Being native to the mountains of Japan, it can withstand the cold winters, and is often planted near temples and in parks, with signs stating that in the shade of this tree the Buddha was born and passed away.

Could the Cannonball tree been introduced and then adopted in Myanmar by the common people innocently as "simple Sinhalese peasants could make this harmless and innocent mistake".  We don't know. The confusion could just have been accidental. Or was it due to the expatriate Buddhist missionary monks zealously spreading to the world in good faith the misidentified "Sal", as Shravasti Dmmika said (Thoughts At Vesakha, 25 May 2013).

One difference between Sri Lanka and Myanmar is that we have close relatives of the Sal as native trees. In fact source-4 referenced earlier gives 17 species of Shorea as growing in Myanmar among which is our Ingyin (Shorea siamensis).