Gift Beans From Afar

A couple of weeks ago I introduced a co-worker to sea beans and she took a real interest - especially since her holidays would be spent on beaches in Mexico and Thailand. She found several hamburgers, almonds, and hog plums along with a couple of sea hearts and some that were "unidentified".

This turned out to be the big prize - a Puzzle Fruit. This bean (Heritiera littoralis) comes from the looking-glass mangrove - a large tree with wing shaped nuts, which is most easily recognized by the silvery scales on the underside of its leaves that resemble a mirror.

I was given three beans from her collection - one black hamburger like the one below.


The black hamburger bean is from Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

She also gave me these two beans that are unlike any in my collection.



The pale, round bean is from Ko Samui, Thailand. I'm pretty sure this is a Laurelwood (Calophyllum calaba).

The fibrous bean is from Song Pee Nong Beach on Koh Paluay, Thailand. I need to study this one some more for positive identification.

Thanks Laura for the new beans!