Custard Apple "Cherimoya" (Annona cherimola)

The Cherimoya or Custard-apple (species: Annona cherimola) is an edible fruit tree native to the Andes mountain region of South America. It is now widely planted as a fruit tree. The images in this post are from the south of Spain near the city of Málaga.

The leaves of this spreading tree are about 3-5 inches long with a simple ovate shape, pinnate venation and entire margins. They are also a bit warped.

The fruit of the Cherimoya is irregular and "heart" shaped in its own unique way. The ripe fruits are green with a smooth skin and a distinct pattern (see image below).

The flesh is a creamy color and quite soft and smooshy when ripe making it easy to eat with a spoon.
The seeds are roughly almond shaped and black. They are fairly easy to spit out when you get one or several in your spoonful of the soft sweet flesh.

The bark on younger trees is smooth but rough and cracked on older trees like the one below.

Chinese rain tree - Koelreuteria elegans

The Chinese rain tree (species name: Koelreuteria elegans) is a cousin of the Goldenrain tree. These two tree species have very similar and distinctive looking seed pods as seen in the image above.
The leaves of the Chinese rain tree are even-pinnate with individual leaflets having a lanceolate to acuminate shape with a serrate margin and a pinnate venation.
This native Taiwanese tree, like its cousin, it used as an ornamental street tree in the warmer sub-tropical zones of the world. This particular tree is in the botanical garden of the University of Malaga in southern Spain.

The seed pods are in clusters at the terminal tips of the branches as seen above.

How many species of Olive trees are there?

Have you ever wondered how many species of Olive trees there are in the world? It is a natural question to ask given the wide variety of Olives that can be purchased at the grocery store. Well, the answer is ONE. There is just one species of Olive tree "Olea Europaea".

One common assumption is that black olives grow on one species of Olive tree and green olives grow on another species of Olive tree. This, however, is a misunderstanding of the difference between black and green olives. The difference in color is a result of when they are harvested and in fact all olives will eventually turn a dark red/purple or almost black color if left to full ripen on the tree. Green olives are harvested once they have reached their maximum size but before they begin to turn dark purple. The best time to harvest is when the color begins to turn from a green color to a lighter green almost yellow color. Black olives are harvested after they have ripened when not only the outer skin is a dark color but also the fleshy "meat" layer between the skin and the pit but before the the olive looses its consistency and begins to shrivel.

Some varieties of olive trees can produce both good green or black olives depending on when the olives are harvested. It is more common however that any given variety produce either good black olives or good green olives. Also some olive tree varieties produce olives that are not suitable for either green or black "table" olives and are used only for the production of Olive Oil.

It is also important to know that neither green or black olives can be eaten when picked right off the tree. Both need to undergo some sort of treatment before they can be consumed safely.

American Sweetgum - Liquidambar styraciflua

The American Sweetgum tree (species: Liquidambar styraciflua) is one of my favorite Autumn color trees. The image above is from a tree in Switzerland and the tree below is from a fine example near the base of the Eiffel tower in Paris. Both of these images give an idea of the magnificent range of bright colors that this tree can show off in the fall. It is for these colors that this tree species has become a favorite as an ornamental tree for parks, gardens and avenues.

The leaf of the American Sweetgum (also known as the Redgum) is a five pointed star like leaf that is similar to those of the Sugar Maple. It has a slightly serrated margin and measures about 4-6 inches across.
The "fruits" of the American sweetgum is one of the key identifiers for this tree species. They are small spiky balls that measure about an inch in diameter. They are bright green until they turn black after maturing and releasing their seed capsules. There are many names given to these curious little fruits including "space bugs".

The leaves have rather long stems that grow out of the ends of new branchlets as seen below.


The next image is a bit out of focus but serves to give an idea of the bark pattern of a young tree.