Orchids are very beautiful flowers.  Twenty years ago, this precious flower could  be enjoyed by only a few, due to relatively high prices and limited supplies.   With advances in orchid cultivation and farming, many different varieties of orchids can now be  produced inexpensively in large quantities. Consequently, public interest in orchids and orchid collections has increased greatly in recent years.  Orchids can now be  enjoyed and purchased in stores and flower shops just as easily as roses. Orchids have become a popular flower choice for special events and celebrations.   There are orchid shows and exhibitions throughout the country especially in late winter and early spring. There are also national and local orchid clubs.  Every year, many new colors and varieties of orchids are cultivated and exhibited. Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Cattleya, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, Vanda,Phalaenopsis, Miltonia, Coelogyne, and Odontoglossum are favorites of both advanced and amateur orchid collectors. The camera lens is ideal for capturing the beauty of the orchid flower.  

Besides mango, banana, papaya, pineapple, and coconut; there are many other tropical fruits in the world.  Recently, I visited Taiwan. A beautiful island with many cultures, attractions, histories, and unique tropical fruits.  These tropical fruits are cultivated by the local farmers and available year round. 

My favor tropical fruit is the Wax Apples.  What is Wax Apple?  Wax Apple is a pink/red bell shape tropical fruit with shinny skin.  It does not look like apple at all. The whole fruit including the skin is edible. Inside the red skin is white.  It contains high levels of glucose and dextrose.  It is a very juicy and quench sweet nutritional fruit.  It can be used to make pure glucose and dextrose.  It can also be used to make Wax Apple wine.  The Wax Apples grow and produce mainly in Pingtung County, Taiwan and sold globally.

 

Wax Apples that have darker red skin are sweeter and juicer in taste than the pink skin ones, hence, they are the favor by the consumers. This unique fruit is produced by the local farmers and have many stories and mysteries.  Although the soil and water quality in each region or farm could effect the quality and sweetness of the Wax Apples, each Wax Apple farmer developed his own secret magic cultivating formula to enhance the size, redness, and sweetness of the wax apples.  These cultivating formula are big secrets.  It only passed down from generation to generation because tropical fruit market, such as Wax Apple, is very competitive market. Price is depending on time, fruit size, appearance, and sweetness.

Sugar Apple is another tropical fruit that I tasted for the first time.  Although it named Sugar Apple, it also does not  resemblance apple at all.  It is a round rough skin green fruit.  The skin is not edible.  The fruit inside is white and very sweet with silky taste but containing lot of seeds.  It take time and skill to eat because of the seeds.  A new breed of Sugar Apple, named Pineapple Sugar Apple, does show pineapple like skin.  It grow in Taitung and famous nationwide.  Locals love it.  This special tropical fruit is becoming more popular because locals believe that it has great nutritional values and sweet tasting.