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Help ID plant grown from nut found on Puerto Rican beach


tom_mn

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Last January I found a nut on a beach south of Rincon, Puerto Rico. The nut was roundish, larger than a filbert, and medium brown. The husk was very thick and I had to break the husk to get the nut to sprout. It is now growing so I wonder what it is. Any idea on what this tropical nut tree might be? Leaves are opposite and appear to be evergreen.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1907420_459070700899010_1043802702738229209_n.jpg?oh=e768a8d8489460119ca4be22b781047a&oe=548B336B&__gda__=1422113962_ed99ad544422ea23da6ae0613d67ec86

Edited by tom_mn
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Dang - Um…. I saw a huge thicket of these (I think ???) at the Deerfield Beach Arboretum in Florida - they looked just like this - but of course I can't remember the name now….. going to rack my brain now!

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yup

So many species,

so little time.

Coconut Creek, Florida

Zone 10b (Zone 11 except for once evey 10 or 20 years)

Last Freeze: 2011,50 Miles North of Fairchilds

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I agree, I think it's a Calophyllum. But way too early to determine which species. Could also be Calophyllum inophyllum, which is a commonly grown species (from Asia, but now pan-tropical). These sea-beans wash up here in the Keys regularly. I really love these trees. And they are tolerant of just about anything mother nature wants to throw at them here.

Michael Norell

Rancho Mirage, California | 33°44' N 116°25' W | 287 ft | z10a | avg Jan 43/70F | Jul 78/108F avg | Weather Station KCARANCH310

previously Big Pine Key, Florida | 24°40' N 81°21' W | 4.5 ft. | z12a | Calcareous substrate | avg annual min. approx 52F | avg Jan 65/75F | Jul 83/90 | extreme min approx 41F

previously Natchez, Mississippi | 31°33' N 91°24' W | 220 ft.| z9a | Downtown/river-adjacent | Loess substrate | avg annual min. 23F | Jan 43/61F | Jul 73/93F | extreme min 2.5F (1899); previously Los Angeles, California (multiple locations)

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Thank you, no doubt a calophyllum.

I am tending towards the native one, http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/calophyllum/calaba.htm Calophyllum calaba (perhaps the same as Calophyllum antillanum?) since this was a remote area, and a native species seems more likely.

Now how to keep it happy as an indoor plant.

Edited by tom_mn
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Did you look for potential parents in the surrounding areas? The fact you found it on the beach suggests that it came from overseas, literally. Did the nut look weathered?

Mnorell - I didn't know they were a sea bean - that's very cool.

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No promises, but it may actually be this tree, it came from around where this picture was taken. Notice other nuts on the sand underneath. This tree looks more like a ficus to me. https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/1011676_459237920882288_2635018643689353541_n.jpg?oh=190b60f616a35d464be308307fd8ebf2&oe=54CE76A1

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No promises, but it may actually be this tree, it came from around where this picture was taken. Notice other nuts on the sand underneath. This tree looks more like a ficus to me. https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/1011676_459237920882288_2635018643689353541_n.jpg?oh=190b60f616a35d464be308307fd8ebf2&oe=54CE76A1

That looks like a tropical almond tree.

Coral Gables, FL 8 miles North of Fairchild USDA Zone 10B

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Now I am confused, are my tree potted and the pictured beach tree different, or are you saying my little tree is also a tropical almond?

The photo link you posted in post #9 looks very similar to a tropical almond. I have volunteers popping up in my yard from the municipal mulch I use. Your sprouted seed does not appear to be a tropical almond (Terminalia catappa) in my opinion. I would defer to Jerry's ID, he is much more knowledgeable about trees than I.

Coral Gables, FL 8 miles North of Fairchild USDA Zone 10B

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Agreed that the seedling is Calophyllum (too small for me to guess species), not Terminalia catappa. Both reseed prolifically in Caribbean and elsewhere.

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

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OK, thanks. Hopefully this will not be too hard of a houseplant to grow. I am skeptical because it has lept to over a foot height in a few months so may not be happy in a pot. I suppose I will have to snip the central leader at some point.

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