Testing the camera repair - A wander through the fields around our home

[The Snark]

The 'Giant Silk Tree' overshadowing our house and property. These trees are interesting in that they keep their leaves until the second week of February. The leaves all fall off in 2 weeks and new leaves grow back by the end of the month.

Shading our house. It is only 25 years old so it is young mature.

The flower of this tree.

Sour Tamarind. Make the mistake of thinking this is the sweet and taking a bite will make you wish you didn't have a tongue. A solution made from the juice of the seed pods makes a serviceable silver polish.

Important safety tip: NEVER add papayas to your compost pile.

Now a stroll down aggravation lane. In California I knew the names of over 90% of the trees and shrubs. Here I'm near clueless.

An Arucaracaea I think

Wild mango tree. It's that time of the year. Pig out!

With bamboo the rule is the straighter it grows the stronger it is. This bamboo is commonly used to make ladders up to 40 feet long. They are virtually indestructible and get stronger as they age. A 1" piece split in half was able to support a wheel of our jeep. ~900 lbs.

The electric and telephone companies use bamboo ladders exclusively. Lighter and stronger than aluminium by far.

No jaunt is complete until you have negotiated your way through a few 'bua' herds.

Or through a water buffalo wunderjar. The kids come over to curiously inspect things while the moms watch in the background. They are very organized socially. Two moms watch and herd a dozen little ones here. I'm sorry I couldn't locate 'the old man'. A kwai that started his career plowing the rice fields for the great great great great grandfather of a family down the road around 1890. He is guesstimated at 135 years young.

Eye candy. A silk tree shades a weir along a canal.

More eye candy

Out here in the primitive third werld they do nice things for each other. Here is a little kiosk under the shade of a tree just for people passing by to take a break out of the sun.

Rice field through another public kiosk

Wild Iris along a canal

This one startled me. The King of Thailand has made tremendous contributions to the country, from designing dams to thousands of agricultural start ups and on and on. Then one day I noticed these plants at Royal project nurseries. These are the Descanso Rock Rose specifically hybrid to grow in extremely adverse conditions for use in erosion control in Southern California. The King certainly has covered all the bases, introducing them here.

A rice farmer working his field. Here is graphically shown the dichotomy of Thailand. The rice farmer makes around $4000 to $6500 a year.

And in the background, a 20 million dollar + Thai elite home. The glass ceiling in Thailand is made of the finest steel reenforced concrete. Upper echelon and management positions are always reserved and given out only by nepotism and cronyism.

Here is a bizarre one. A true parasitic tree. Look closely at the trunk of this victim tree you will see a root trailing down it. The parasite tree sprouts in the bark of a certain kind of tree and sends down roots.

Here the host and parasite are about equal in growth.

Once fully established the parasite sends out roots that encircle the host, crushing the cambium layer.

And here, the host has died and only the parasite remains.

 

[Shrike]

Great pictures! That parasitic tree is cool. Do you know what it's called? Reminds me of a strangler fig.

We want more!

 

[The Snark]

I forgot to apologize for the haze. We're under the Asian Brown Cloud right now and the air is a muddy soup.

ID the trees. This is driving me crazy. With west coast US plants and trees, locals and imported, conifers, hardwoods like the alder, it was easy to keep track of leaf shape, growth traits etc. and I had common names to work with. But here in the mixed deciduous forests I only get the local names in Thai and the Latin names, often misspelled. I have a few of the more obvious ones down pretty good, Bombacacaeas, some Acaciaeas, Jacarandas and the fruit trees but in the forest I'm overwhelmed with dozens of similar looking trees with few tell tale traits. Of course the Acacias throw me for loops with what... over 450 described varieties? And many closely resemble other families.

I'm assuming the parasite is a Ficus, though which I'm not sure. Also, it appears to only take root only in certain trees and which ones I again have no idea. For example, it ignores the giant silk trees which are often growing right along side. So the bark of the victim tree has to meet a pretty rigid criteria. Why not the silk trees which are usually taller? The shade of the canopy? The seedling can't tell so what other factors affect germination? Ph?

If people like these field trips I would like to do one when the air is clear after the rains start. But then most of the trees are done flowering.

 

[Shrike]

Ah, Ficus. So it very well could be a "strangler fig" then. Very cool.

 

[The Snark]

I'm amazed at how that parasite wraps those roots around the host. That great mass of roots that makes no attempt at going downwards towards the soil but deliberately is choking the host. And since the host is an established hardwood the entire cycle from germination to death of the host could take maybe 20 years.