Monday, March 21, 2011

Taking a weed home, passionflower or pokok letup

A weed is not a weed when it is desired and treasured. We noticed pokok letup, climbing up a fence one day while jogging early in the morning. The fruits were hairy and felt oily. The flowers were majestic. Many houses round here are still empty, and the vine was climbing up on the fence of one empty house.  We waited until the fruit turned yellow and picked, .... Alas, I didn't bring along Nikon to snap the beautiful passionflowers.

Pokok letup is my childhood delight. Modern life somehow cut off far too many childhood pages.  Forests are bulldozed to make way for development.  Vines endemic to Malaysia are hard to find.   Everyone seem to be pulling out weeds, but  today I am taking a weed home. I hope they will germinate and grow here with beautiful flowers and fruits.

Ripe passionflower fruits/ buah letup yang masak

Passionflower fruits: the inside

Seeds from two dry fruits

Taking a weed home is my way of celebrating Earth Day.

bangchik and kakdah
Taman Kota Harmoni, Tanah Merah, Malaysia.
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18 comments:

  1. Malay-Kadazan girlMarch 21, 2011 12:30 AM

    Pokok letup I can't seem to jog my memory whether I have ever try this fruit or not. Does it have another name? Apa rasa dia Bangchik?

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  2. meemsnycMarch 21, 2011 1:10 AM

    Oooh, that is awesome! I have never eaten fresh passion fruit before.

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  3. Comeca JonesMarch 21, 2011 1:54 AM

    MMMMM looks so good!

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  4. Jean CampbellMarch 21, 2011 2:13 AM

    Is there a butterfly that visits the flowers of your passionflower?

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  5. YMarch 21, 2011 6:49 AM

    Ha! I was thinking of planting one in my gdn if I can find a vine and I saw some near my kid's school recently. Coincidentally, Gardening with Wilson @ Singapore posted abt this vine recently that it is toxic. We used to play with it when we were kids because they were so cute like miniature rambutans

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  6. AnonymousMarch 21, 2011 7:23 AM

    Taking a weed home...but apparently not a weed for you...with beautiful flowers and fruit. Look forward Bangchik to seeing the flowers of the pokok letup!

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  7. Autumn BelleMarch 21, 2011 8:24 AM

    That's the way to go, Bangchik. I grow 'weeds' in my garden too!

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  8. ejaMariaMarch 21, 2011 8:53 AM

    passion fruit buat saya fikir ianya buah susu la bang chik... saya salah nama ke ?

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  9. Food so delicious!March 21, 2011 10:00 AM

    I remember this!! I used to pick them and keep them. I didnt know you could eat them. Oh.. come to think of it, I havent seen this for a long time.... Thanks for bringing this up.. now I know what I shall be looking for every morning when I go for my walks.

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  10. Chloe mMarch 21, 2011 10:19 AM

    I only know that passionfruit juice is delicious!

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  11. OneMarch 21, 2011 10:23 AM

    Bangchik, You are growing this for its beauty right? Is it edible?

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  12. Yuzie AmirMarch 21, 2011 10:48 AM

    bang chik ..me also called this pokok letup.I was grew up in Pendang Kedah..Mmg banyak pokok letup ni di kat kg saya.Mak saya selalu celur pucuk letup ni..buat ulam cicah dgn sambal belacan.Wallahh sedap..mmg terkenang2 zaman kanak2 bila tgk pokok ni.Kat KL mmg tak penah nampak.

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  13. miruku March 21, 2011 2:46 PM

    Is the fruit edible? Looks so tiny and different from normal passion fruit.

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  14. AndreaMarch 21, 2011 4:31 PM

    oh that's nice, i haven't seen passion vine yet here as weeds, only the fruiting type, P edulis. Maybe the fruits can also be mixed with juices to give some distinct aroma.

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  15. Sue GarrettMarch 21, 2011 6:58 PM

    We consider passion flowers to be a welcome addition to the garden. They are offered by gardne centres in all sorts of colours

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  16. Bangchik and KakdahMarch 22, 2011 12:48 AM

    Friends, Bloggers and Gardeners.
    The fruit is edible when ripe. Not bad, very juicy.. Butterflies are regular visiters to this plant and so is bumble bee..... They are not toxic when ripe, some even take shoots as ulam/ salad. I heard about leaves used to treat skin problem.

    Buah susu (marcisa) is buah letup distant cousin, the bigger one. They belong to same family of passion fruits. Worldwide something like 500 species.

    I will grow them for flowers and fruits, for us and for visitors, butterflies and bees included.

    bangchik

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  17. AnonymousAugust 29, 2014 4:39 PM

    Just discover this blog, very nice indeed as I love gardening too :). For info, I used to eat this Buah letup, exactly similar in the picture when I came back from school 20 years ago. It grew at my school fence. Ate quite a lot, and later week, I got cirit birit about a week. It sweet, but I did not taste the seed. the green once bit bitter...

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  18. AnonymousApril 27, 2017 11:52 AM

    Hi, can you teach how to grow this buah letup? I found some in my current work area too.

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