Trees | Souan Son Beach

1) The palm or multiplying palm (Dypsis lutescens) also called Areca palm or golden palm grows in clumps of slender, golden stems. It is an ornamental palm very common in cultivation in tropical regions. The petioles of the yellow-gold then bronze-green leaves gave the Latin name of the species (luteus = yellow). Originally, it is endemic to Madagascar. It has been introduced to many tropical regions. In temperate and cold regions, it is quite commonly used as a houseplant, because it is not hardy. It is present everywhere in the resort and around the swimming pool.

4) Gandaria or plum mango (Bouea macrophylla), is a species of flowering plant native to Southeast Asia. The tree belongs to the Anacardiaceae family which also includes the mango and cashew. The evergreen tree reaches a height of 25 meters. Its leaves are lanceolate to elliptical in shape. The unripe fruits (resembling a mango) are green in color and ripen to orange/yellow, with the seed being pink. They reach approximately 2 to 5 cm in diameter. The entire fruit, including its skin, is edible. He is present in front of the resort.

5) The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is a species of palm. The coconut palm is made up of a stipe or false trunk (it is an interlocking of tough leaf sheaths) topped with a large crown of leaves. The Coconut Palm, like all palm trees, is therefore not a tree but a plant. It measures up to 30 m high. There are 2 varieties: tall and dwarf. In the axil of each leaf is usually an inflorescence which develops into a coconut-laden bunch. The coconut palm is generally considered to have originated in Malaysia or Melanesia. There are 6 in front of the entrance (dwarf variety).

6) The papaya tree (Carica papaya L.) is an evergreen fruit tree from humid tropical regions grown for its fruit, papaya. It is originally from southern Mexico. This shrub, 3 to 10 m high, is generally an unbranched plant. Its lifespan is short, three to five years, but it produces continuously from the first year of planting. The hollow trunk, 20 cm in diameter, is covered with greenish or grayish bark, marked with leaf scars. The leaves gathered at the top of the trunk resemble those of the fig tree. It is present in front of the entrance on the left, at the bottom of the garden before the forest.

7) The banana tree (Musa) is a genus of perennial plants whose fruits, generally, are bananas. This genus includes approximately sixty species, all tropical, several of which are widely cultivated for banana production. The Banana tree, contrary to appearances, is not a tree but a herbaceous plant. In fact, it does not have a real trunk, but a stipe like palm trees. Banana trees can reach seven meters high (up to 15 meters in Musa ingens). The region of origin of the banana is between India and the Melanesian islands of the Pacific through Indonesia and New Guinea. To the right of the entrance.

8) The mango tree (Mangifera indica) The Mango tree is a tree native to eastern India and Burma, cultivated in India for more than 4,000 years. It was introduced in the 16th century in Africa by the Arabs and in Brazil by the Portuguese. It has been widely cultivated in all tropical countries since the 17th century. It is grown for its fruit, the mango, which when ripe has a soft, juicy pulp with a sweet flavor. In the Mascarenes, the green fruit is used in a spicy preparation, “rougail-mango”. Mango wood, whose color is similar to walnut, is used in cabinetmaking. There are two wild mango trees behind the coconut trees at the entrance.

9) The jackfruit or jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), is a species of tree, native to India and Bangladesh, cultivated and introduced into most tropical regions. The jackfruit is a tree with a wide, rounded spreading shape, measuring up to 20 m, and sometimes even 30 m, high. It is cultivated for its edible fruit, the jackfruit, nicknamed the “poor man’s fruit”. It is the largest edible fruit for humans from a fruit tree: it measures up to 90 cm long when ripe and weighs between 1 and 42 kg. It resembles durian, smaller and thorny and above all smelly. It begins to bear fruit three years after planting. It is present in the garden behind the resort.

10) The Indian trumpet tree or the Damocles tree: (Oroxylum indicum). It is recognizable by its long fruits which curve downward and resemble sickles or swords dangling in the night, giving it the name "Damocles tree. The pinnate leaves measure approximately 1 meter in length and are comparable in width , their leaflets display four orders of branching. The leaves wither and fall from the tree and the petioles accumulate near the base of the trunk, resembling a pile of broken limb bones. of hearts, round with paper wings. Present near the resort behind the clotheslines.

11) The casuarina, or horsetail-leaved casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia) or Australian pine, is a species of tree native to southeast Asia and Australia. Its shape is slender and resembles a pine, although it is not a conifer. It can reach 35 m high, its foliage is evergreen, resembling horsetails, its wood is very hard, it is nicknamed “iron wood”. It adapts to all types of soil and is salt tolerant. It supports the size very well. With the Indian almond tree, the seaside mahot and the coconut palm it forms the seaside vegetation up to Ban Phe.

12) The seaside mahot (Hibiscus tiliaceus) is a tree of the Malvaceae family very common on the coasts of the islands of Oceania and Southeast Asia. It is a shrub or small tree, its size varies greatly, the highest branches can reach between 6 and 15 meters. Its trunk can reach 40 to 50 cm in diameter, colored in gray-brown tones which can be covered with lenticels. Its branches are branched, flexible, there are soft hairs on certain parts of the plant including young branches, buds, leaves and flowers. Its flower, which is reminiscent of that of the hibiscus, only lives one day. Its leaves are somewhat reminiscent of those of the lime tree.

13) The vacouet (Pandanus tectorius) is a small tree 14 m high (maximum). Its single trunk is thin with brown ringed bark. It is thorny, reaches 11 m in width, and forks at a height of 4 to 8 meters. It is supported by aerial roots (helix roots) which firmly anchor the tree to the ground. Roots sometimes grow along branches, and they grow at large angles to the trunk. It is native to Malaysia, Papua, eastern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The fruit of Pandanus tectorius, which externally resembles pineapple, is edible. It is an important food source in the atolls of Micronesia or Polynesia, with the fruit usually eaten raw or made into dried paste or flour.

14) The Yang Na (Dipterocarpus alatus) also called resin tree, is an evergreen tree native to the tropical rainforests of the plains of Southeast Asia. It is a large tree measuring up to 60 m high. The crown is often 20 or 30 m away. It is pollinated by insects and produces its fruits between March and April. Its two-winged fruits are dispersed by the wind. In Cambodia, wood is very popular in construction and cabinetmaking, when it is not exploited for its oily resin. Generally, the resin is collected for the following uses: wood lacquering, boat caulking and traditional medicine. Mixed with beeswax, it is used in dressings for ulcerated wounds. He is considered vulnerable. Present at the entrance to the resort.

15) The rubber tree, the hevea (Hevea brasiliensis) is a tree of the Euphorbiaceae family. A latex is extracted from it which is used to be transformed into rubber. In its natural environment in the Amazon, it can frequently reach more than 30 m in height with a circumference of 1 m. Its bark is grayish green. Its fruit is a capsule with three shells. The latex is harvested by “bleeding”: it is an incision in the bark of the trunk in order to cut the laticiferous vessels. Latex is different from sap. This ensures the distribution of water, mineral salts or sugars while the latex is rather involved in the natural defense mechanisms of the tree. In South and South-West Asia, more than two million hectares planted from 2000 to 2010 have disrupted ecosystems and socio-economic networks, constituting a further threat to biodiversity. The vast monocultures of rubber trees are grown in detriment of the tropical forest, including in countries and on continents where rubber trees did not exist.

16) The Bodhi or pagoda fig (Ficus religiosus) is a species of tree in the genus Ficus. In Vedic texts it is called ashvattha. It is under its foliage that Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, achieved Bodhi, i.e. enlightenment. It is a sacred tree in Hinduism and Buddhism, the reason for its presence in temples. It is a large tree with a maximum height of approximately 30 meters, with a trunk diameter of up to 3 meters. The leaves are heart-shaped, with a characteristic elongated tip. The fruit is a small fig, 1 to 1.5 cm in diameter, turning purple as it ripens. It occurs naturally in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, southwest China and Indochina.

18) The cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis): it is an evergreen tree from the same family as the Amazonian walnut, native to northern South America, tropical America and the south of the Caribbean. It is grown in many other tropical regions for its beautiful, fragrant flowers. It reaches 30 to 35 m in height, its stems ending in leaves arranged in a rosette. The flowers are orange, scarlet or pink forming clusters measuring 3 m in length. They are made up of six petals, are quite large, measuring up to 10 cm, and have a pleasant smell. They produce large spherical and woody plants 15 to 24 cm in diameter, containing 200 to 300 seeds. The fruit pulp turns blue in the open air and has an unpleasant odor. Widely planted in temples in India, this tree is called the “nagalingam” tree in Tamil. It is considered sacred by Hindus since its flower resembles a Naga.

19) The Candle Mangle or red mangrove (Rhizophora Mangle L.) is a tropical shrub with evergreen foliage which is anchored in the mud of the mangrove thanks to its imposing stilt roots arranged in arcs. Its thick, spray-resistant leaves are leathery, elliptical, 8 to 16 × 4 to 7 cm. The flower has a yellow calyx measuring 13 mm, thick and leathery, 4 pale yellow petals, lanceolate, leathery, with cottony margins and 8 stamens. The seeds germinate directly on the tree and develop a radicle about thirty centimeters long. When the fruit and its radicle detach, they sink like a torpedo into the mud or float on the water and are carried far away. Numerous in the mangroves of Khlung and Ko Chan.

20) Indian laburnum: Cassia fistula, also called cassia, is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family, native to South Asia, from southern Pakistan through eastern India to Burma and southern Sri Lanka. Its fragrant flowering is spectacular, the Indian laburnum is covered with abundant yellow flowering, where the leaves are barely visible. The flowers are produced in pendulous clusters of 20 to 60 cm garnished with numerous flowers. Each flower is carried by a thin pedicel and has 5 yellow petals, all similar. The fruit is a pod that does not open when ripe, pendulous, dark brown, measuring 30 to 60 cm in length and 2 to 2.5 cm in width. The golden yellow flower of the cassava is the national flower of Thailand and it symbolizes Thai royalty: the cassava is named ratchapreuk (ratcha meaning royal and preuk: plant). Very abundant on the road to Chantabury.

21) Durian: (Durio zibethinus) is the most common tree species of the genus Durio, known as durian and whose edible fruits are also known as durian. The silhouette of the young tree has a very characteristic conical shape. The flowers of Durio zibethinus are visited by a specific species of bat which eat the pollen and pollinate the flowers. The flowers open in the afternoon and release pollen in the evening. The next morning, the chalice, petals and stamens have fallen, leaving only what will produce the fruit. It is greenish in color and bristles with numerous conical spines.

22) Salak: (salacca salacca) is a species of palm (Arecaceae family) native to Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It is mainly grown in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a very short-stemmed palm, with leaves up to 6 meters long; each leaf has a 2 meter long petiole with spines up to 15 centimeters long and numerous leaflets. The fruits grow in clusters at the base of the palm and are also known as snakeskin fruits because of their reddish-brown scaly skin. The fruit, which resembles a ripe fig in size and shape, has a crunchy and chewy consistency. The edible pulp inside, often compared to large peeled garlic cloves, offers a unique flavor profile. It generally has a sweet and sour taste with a notable astringent side.

23) The traveler's tree or ravenale or ravinala (Ravenala madagascariensis) is a species of tropical plants in the Strelitziaceae family, native to Madagascar. It is not a tree (in the botanical sense of the term), but a herbaceous plant with a lacunar stipe (false trunk), which sometimes makes it resemble a palm tree. Due to its characteristic fan shape and its size (it can reach 20 m), it can be spotted from afar. Its name comes from the water contained in the heart of the tree which allows the traveler to quench their thirst. Its vast leaves are arranged in a fan, in the same plane. Their cup-shaped base retains rainwater in which many mosquitoes come to lay eggs. In Madagascar, these water reservoirs are home to very original species which are dependent on this micro-habitat (amphibians, beetles and mosquitoes).

24) The cheese maker: Bombax ceiba, one of the cheese makers, also called Red Kapok tree, is a species of large tropical tree in the Malvaceae family. The tree grows up to 25 to 40 m tall. Large specimens often have a swollen trunk and robust buttress roots. It is a deciduous tree: it flowers during the dry season, when it no longer has leaves, from February to March. The trunk has large, characteristic, conical-shaped thorns at the base. Its leaves, up to 30 cm long, are light green and palmate with long petioles, with 5 or 7 leaflets; while its large fleshy flowers of 7 to 15 cm have five scarlet red or orange petals. The fruits are oblong capsules of 10 to 17 cm containing seeds of up to 8 mm coated in whitish cottony fibers sometimes used to make cushions or mattresses.

25) The saber vine or Saint Thomas vine (Entada rheedei), present in Africa, Asia and Australia, is a species of large vine with a woody stem in the shape of a corkscrew or pod belonging to the Fabaceae family ( bean, pea, mimosa, clover...). In Cambodia, the leaves of the Saint Thomas vine are eaten as a vegetable. The bark is used to make ropes and nets. The giant bean-like pod can be 1 m long. It is also used in pharmacopoeia and contains a psychotropic substance inducing an altered state of consciousness used for religious or shamanic purposes. Its seeds have a thick, strong wall and are used to play a very popular game, usually played around the time of the Khmer New Year (mid-April).

26) The cajeput or white melaleuch (Melaleuca cajuputi) is an evergreen shrub or tree, up to 30 m high, native to South-East Asia and northern Australia. It is exploited in many tropical regions for the production of cajeput oil. The thick, whitish bark, soft to the touch, exfoliates in large strips. The leaves are 4.5 to 14 cm long and 1.5 to 5 cm wide. The blade is narrow, elliptical and is covered with parallel veins. The flowers form cream-colored spikes. The cajeput grows on the banks of rivers, in marshy areas or flooded in the rainy season, but also on dry and rocky soils. It has been widely cultivated in tropical Asia for over a century. Abundant at Rayong Botanique Water Park.

27) The small-leaved badamier, Madagascar badamier or white benzoin (Terminalia mantaly) is a species native to Madagascar, which has become pantropical, planted in urban areas as a shade tree. On all types of soil, but prefers moist soils and the edges of rivers and lakes. Tree 10 to 20 m high, with a straight bole, with a characteristic shape with its branches arranged horizontally or in an inverted cone and its leaves arranged at the end of the branches. The bark is smooth, beige to gray brown. The leaves are obovate, triangular. In Madagascar this tree has a certain importance among the local population. In fact, it uses the bark to fight against dysentery and also makes a tincture from it. Present in the village behind the resort.

28) The sweet karyote or Burmese Fishtail palm, Caryota mitis, is a species of plants in the Arecaceae (palm) family, of the genus Caryota, native to Southeast Asia. This palm is frequently grown as an ornamental plant and as a potted houseplant. Each leaf is composed of numerous pairs of caudal fin-shaped leaflets which give this palm its name. When mature, Caryota can produce large clusters of small yellow, greenish or purple flowers, enveloped in two fibrous spathes. The ripe globular fruits, about 2 cm in diameter, green for a very long time then briefly brown-red and finally black, are irritating. The soft fibers from the base of the leaves form a poultice used in Cambodia to cauterize certain types of wounds. The pith of the stems is used to make sago, a source of carbohydrates. With the fruits you can make palm wine. By evaporation of sugar (palm sugar) and distillation, a liqueur (arrack) can be made.

29) Gmelina arborea is a fast-growing, deciduous tree that grows naturally in most of India at altitudes up to 1,500 meters. It is also naturally present in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the southern provinces of China. It can reach a moderate to large size (up to 30 m with a diameter of 1.2 to 4 m). It has simple, opposite leaves ending in a point (toothed when young). Flowering takes place from February to April, when the tree is more or less leafless. The flowers are reminiscent of an orchid. Fruiting follows from May to June. The fruit, 2.5 cm long, is smooth, dark green, becoming yellow when ripe, exuding a fruity odor. Its bark, roots and leaves are used medicinally. Encountered in the jungle near Buddha Park.

30) The palm tree or borasse, Borassus flabellifer is a large palm tree, which develops a smooth and gray stipe (false trunk) that can reach 30 meters in height. They can have several trunks. The leaves are long, fan-shaped and can measure up to two or three meters in length. The male inflorescences measure almost two meters, and include flowers composed of 3 sepals, 3 petals and 6 stamens and short pistils. The fruits are grouped in tight clusters. They are ovoid or globular, smooth, yellow-brown, orange or even green when ripe. It is the palm from which palm wine is made and whose buds are edible.