Basically an unknown vegetable for the Filipinos but for the people in rural Thailand this is a common vegetable tree that they grow in their backyards. The young fruits which they grill or ferment in rice wash and salt before being eaten with their infamously spicy and delicious concoction called “Nam pric” are found sold in fresh markets amidst an array of various other strange vegetables and herbs that we Filipinos, most probably, would not be familiar with .
Habitat : Creek banks, open grasslands, ravines
Local name : Pinka-pinkahan
Trade name : Midnight horror
Botanical name : Oroxylum indicum
Family : Bignoniaceae
Specimen height : 8-12 meters
Trunk : Bole erect, cylindrical, slender; Bark fissured, greyish
Leaf : Compound; Leaflets ovate, crinkled, deep green
Fruit : Capsule, flattened (dagger-shaped), elongated (about a meter long, more or less), dark brown to nearly black; Flattened, winged seeds numerous
Fruiting season : Possibly year-round
Traits : Deciduous to semi-deciduous; Fast growing; Small to medium-sized tree; Sparingly branched
Recommendations : Vegetable tree for backyards; Light shade for crops; Living trellis; Nurse tree; Pioneer species for reforestation purpose; Riparian management; Wildcrafting
Used for : Shoots, flowers and young fruits are cooked or eaten raw as vegetable; Leaves, bark, roots and seeds have medicinal uses; Leaves are used in baths; Dye obtained from the bark is used to decorate rattan baskets
Native range : South Asia, China and Southeast Asia (including the Philippines)
National conservation status : Not threatened in the
Philippines
Threat : Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, residential and commercial use
Further readings:
E-Prosea (Oroxylum indicum) http://www.proseanet.org/prosea/e-prosea_detail.php?frt=&id=1215
Revised Lexicon of Philippine Trees (J. Rojo)
Tropical & Subtropical Trees (M. Barwick) (387)