Vietnam

Sapa, located in North Vietnam. July 07. Photo taken by someone in my family.

When I went to Vietnam last year, it had only been my third time to the country. I am fortunate to have parents who like traveling so my family and I traveled all throughout Vietnam from the North into the South. Despite the unfortunate third-world country status, it is a truly beautiful country. I don’t think I could have fully and truly appreciated nature until my trip. I hiked mountains which I had never done before. I saw some of the most beautiful country sides, great green mountains and went into caves.

Ha Long Cave. July 07. Photo mine.

Parts of the beautiful scenery are many different plants and trees. There are a lot of different fruits and plants that I have never seen in California so I wanted to share my 3 favorite plants I found in Vietnam.

1. Cay Ca Trung “Fish Egg Tree”

It is known as the Jamaican Cherry Tree in most of the world, but I had only known of it as Cay Ca Trung or literally translated to Fish Egg Tree. The outside is small and red. The inside looks like fish eggs hence the literal Vietnamese name. The fruit is very sweet and VERY sticky. When I went to Vietnam, my younger cousins showed me the fruit. Then we proceeded to have fish egg fights while we were on duck paddle. Very dangerous. And very sticky. The tree was found almost alongside roads. Unfortunately, this tree is rarely seen in North America.

2. Bong Mac Co “Shy Flower”

The second time I had been to Vietnam, this plant amused me to no end. I had never seen anything like it. With a flick of a finger or a kick of the feet, the leaves closed up as if it were alive. I was astonished. A few years later, the plant appeared for my amusement again except in Hawaii! You can grow your own at ticklemeplant.com.

Here is a video I found on YouTube where someone touches the shy leaves.

3. Cay Phuong Do

The woman under the tree is my mom during our trip.

Here in America I’ve seen these trees except in purple. When in season, my whole street blooms into purple. It’s great until the petals fall on the streets and cars causing a slightly sticky mess. In Vietnam, the trees have red flowers. I can’t find the English name and I can’t translate Phuong into English. So my basic translation is Red --- Tree.