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Tropical Fruit

Sunday, 15 February 2009 23:39 Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 08:00 Written by ATseng


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.

 

 

 Vitamin and Mineral (mg)
 B1 B2
B6
 C Na
 K Ca Mg  P  Fe  Zn
 Wax Apple
 0.01  0.02 0.01 17  7  70   4  8  10  0.1  0.1
 Sugar Apple
 0.02 0.14 0.05
99  7 390  18 29
 46  0.3  0.2

 

Start Your Own Orchid Collection

Wednesday, 12 March 2008 17:47 Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2009 15:59 Written by ATseng

Whether you are a total novice, have just a casual interest in orchids, or are already an enthusiastic orchid collector; you can  start your own collection by growing orchids at home. Every year, from October to April, your orchid plants will produce brilliant exotic flowers for you to enjoy and photograph.   With proper care, orchid plants will continue to flower year after year.  A typical growing cycle for an orchid plant is illustrated in the following pie chart:

Contrary to many people's expectations, orchid growing is not difficult. I started  growing orchids about ten years ago by simply placing  plants on a southern-facing window sill.  The southern exposure provides enough light, and the correct temperature for Phalaenopsis, Oncidium Bifolium, and Dendrobium species. Orchids thrive on sunlight and need very little water. I water once a week, and fertilize once a month using ½ tea spoon of liquid orchid food per one gallon of warm water. My plants have generally flourished year after year without too much fuss.

However, one has to watch for leaf loss, which can result from not enough water, or yellowing which generally indicates too much water. If a plant fails to flower in a year, the plant could be over-fertilized, which is a common  problem for  some species,  e.g. Dendrobium. Over-fertilization burns the buds. Not enough light will also limit orchid flowering.  Plants which suffer from insufficient light often have dark green leaves.  Increased light promotes flowering, and will change the predominant leaf color to green-light yellow. 

I enjoy growing and photographing my own orchids.  My plant collection includes several Phalaenopsis, Oncidium, Dendrobium and other hybridizations.

    

  

My family members, friends, and colleagues all know that I love orchids. They give me orchid plants as gifts on almost  every occasion.  I have more than 20 plants now, and my collection is constantly increasing. 

Edited by M. C. Uhing

Winter Butterfly Valley

Thursday, 06 March 2008 14:38 Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2009 15:57 Written by ATseng

Most people in the US know that Mexico is the home for Monarch butterflies in the winter,  but are unaware of another major butterfly migration phenomenon. Each year millions of Euploeini butterflies from northern regions of Taiwan and continental Asia migrate to the warm sunny valley of Maolin in southern Taiwan.  More than 600,000 Euploeini butterflies fly to the holy Dawu mountain foothill in Maolin (AKA “Purple Butterfly Valley”) taking shelter for winter from January to March. Tourists delight in  watching these butterflies arrive and settle in the Maolin valley. The scenes in the valley are beautiful and magnificent.

 

Euploeini butterflies have blue and purple wings that show beautifully varying hues under sunlight. The blue and purple wing colors serve as a biological defense mechanism which deters predators. Every winter, various species of the purple crow butterfly (AKA Taiwan purple-spotted butterfly) are present in the “Purple Butterfly Valley”. The most common species are Euploea Tulliolus Koxinga Fruhstorfer, Euploea Mulciber Barsine Fruhstorfer, Euploea Eunice Hobson (Butter), and Euploea Sylvester Swinhoei Wallace & Moore.  Purple-spotted butterflies feed on milkweed and other flowers, and are classified as milkweed butterfly species.

To see more of the Butterfly Photos, Click here.

Edited by M. C. Uhing

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