I know that many of the items technically belong in both categories, but I have simply chosen to put each one in the category that I most associate it with. In general, the most commonly used and grown chillies in Vietnam as small, red peppers, sometimes no bigger than a fingernail. The Dragon Fruit tree is a kind of cactus, growing in slim, spiky shoots. There are two indexes: Flowers & Plants | Fruits & Trees. You can’t not love the coconut palm. You’ll see jackfruit all over the southern and central coast and the Central Highlands, and they seem to be almost always bearing fruit. The flower has a rubbery but fragile texture and the scent is glorious. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that a friend of mine pointed out the peanut crops all over the place as we travelled through Central Vietnam. The petals are cream yellow on the outside and deep red on the inside, with pink and yellow stamens. And it grows profusely: at up to a metre a day, bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. Hanging like decorative balls on a Christmas tree, persimmons are large, shapely, orange-red fruit, which are eaten raw or dried, squashed and candied. Vietnam is in danger. It’s from the guerrilla tactic which the Northern army used to fight against the Southern army and the American army, during the Vietnam war. From the Arctic to Australasia, every image of burning landscapes was horrifying, so this year, with your help, we ... #YourConservationWins2020: New WLT infographics chart year of partner victories, #YourConservationWins2020: Over two million acres saved by WLT backers after year of victories for nature. Oh this is superb! Peach blossom trees with roots lie on a street in Dang Cuong Commune of An Duong District, Hai Phong City, Vietnam, January 2021. But in the attractive, desert-like areas of the provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen and Binh Dinh, cactus are not an unusual sight. A saying I read once (but have never heard again since) goes: Đền cây đa, ma cây gòn: The spirits live in the Banyan tree, the ghosts in the Kapok. The Vietnamese Golden Cypress was only discovered in 1999, on a high ridge in the mountains of northern Vietnam, and subsequently described in 2002. Also, where my limited knowledge allows, I’ve included the Vietnamese names, which are often very poetic, too. The fruit is widely eaten in Vietnam: fresh or cooked. In Vietnam, since the 1980s and 90s, coffee production has soared. This is the first ancient tree in Hue and the tenth tree in Vietnam that is recognized as a heritage tree. Because of their size, Banyans have been used as shade trees and meeting points in Vietnam, and elsewhere, for thousands of years. From homes to piping to food and utensils, Bamboo has long been one of the most useful, versatile and strong plants in the world. Selected Resources for Travellers & Expats: Your email address will not be published. I read a Vietnamese proverb once (although I can’t find it anywhere now, and no one else seems to have heard it) that goes: Exotic and almost prehistoric in appearance, I can easily imagine the Traveller’s Palm dotting the landscapes in which dinosaurs used to roam. Certain Banyan trees in Vietnam are worshiped – either for the tree spirits that are said to dwell in them or for historic events which took place beneath their great, splayed branches. My first recollection of bougainvillea is in Greece, where the flowers shine out from the white-washed walls over which they grow. The ‘cotton’ is harvested and used for making bedding, insulating homes, and spinning clothes, among other things. Delicate purple, white and pink flowers and a glorious fragrance that puts the world’s perfumeries to shame, make Sweet Pea one of the prettiest and most seductive of flowers. Photo: Ngoc Anh / Tuoi Tre That trader made a reference to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s ban on cutting down wild peach blosson trees, which grow naturally in the wild, for the upcoming Lunar New Year, or Tet, celebrations. *Where & when you might see it: coast & midlands of south & central provinces [MAP]. Fortunately, I’m not one of them. *Other names: Monkey nut | đậu phộng or lạc (Vietnamese), *Where & when you might see it: Central & northern coastal plains [MAP]. The leaves and flowers are stiff and slightly shiny: almost as if they were made of rubber. Thanks so much! For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements here. The copper-coloured pods reveal a sticky collection of sour-sweet seeds which can be eaten raw, or candied, or used as a flavouring for any number of delicious marinades, soups, stews and dipping sauces. Sweet and floral, the scent induces joy and excitement in me. But it also has a dark side. *Where & when you might see it: all over southern and central coastal region, year-round [MAP]. Famous as the tree under which Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and thus became the Buddha, the Bodhi Tree, which means ‘perfect knowledge’, has strong spiritual associations and is found in most temple grounds in Vietnam. Now, I’m fortunate enough to live in a country where water lilies are not an unusual sight: indeed, when in Saigon, I have the pleasure of walking by a pond of floating lilies every day, on my way to the pool in Van Thanh Park. The mì quảng noodle shop that I go to in Saigon, for example, has a small pan of annatto constantly on the boil in order to colour the broth. The leaves are shapely and thick: a satisfyingly plump heart-shape. They’re pretty little things and easy to spot. The Vietnamese name – Cây Keo Bạc – translates roughly as ‘silver glue tree’ (I think). *Other names: Silk Cotton Tree | Cây Gòn (Vietnamese), *Where & when you might see it: Southern & central plains & coast [MAP]. The pink-purple flowers against the clear blue highland skies seem fresh, clean and new. Hence another of its colloquial names: the umbrella tree. A shot of a lonely tree as it stands tall in the wind on Tan Thanh beach, Go Cong Dong district, Tien Giang province. *Other names: Phượng Vĩ (Vietnamese) | Delonix Regia (Latin), *Where & when you might see it: coastal regions throughout Vietnam; blooming from late spring to early summer: April-June [MAP]. On this page, I’ve compiled an informal, illustrated list of. The pink, purple and white petals of bougainvillea have always been symbolic of warm climes and blue seas. I’m no expert on flora, I just wanted to make an illustrated list of some of the plants, flowers and trees that I regularly see in Vietnam so that other travellers can also identify them. Exotic and almost prehistoric in appearance, I can easily imagine the Traveller’s Palm dotting the landscapes in which dinosaurs used to roam. *Where & when you might see it: Central Highlands, forests [MAP]. Around October, you’ll catch the spicy scent of the Milkwood on an evening breeze in the cities or the countryside. *Where & when you might see it: lining streets & parks in cities & towns nationwide; blooming March-April [MAP]. In truth, numerous quasi-nomadic ethnic minorities, such as the Stieng, lived on the land. And it grows profusely: at up to a metre a day, bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. Morning Glory: *Other names: Convolvulus | hoa rau muống (Vietnamese). New twigs and branchlets covered with grey or rust colored hairs. Yes, I’ve heard of the app, but never used it. In fact, the Vietnamese name (ngũ sắc) describes them perfectly, meaning ‘five colours’. Many famous meetings and events have taken place under Banyans. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A great place to be among the Lotuses is the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, in the, One of the first fruit trees I can remember seeing regularly in Vietnam, jackfruit is a medium-sized, fairly tall and slender tree, with dark green leaves. The Poinsettia is a common Christmas flower in most Western countries, which accounts for its popular name, the Christmas Star. It’s a special tree and there’s always an aura radiating from an old tamarind. Cashew nuts grow in a surprising manner: they are attached to the bottom of the Cashew apple, which is an aromatic, thick skinned, red and yellow fruit. Banyans can grow to enormous sizes and live many centuries, sometimes over a thousand years. These are very spicy but also have a wonderful, flowery aroma. There are hundreds of species of convolvulus, but most of them grow by the water in horizontal vines, straddling sandy beaches, muddy riverbanks, cliffs and lakeshores. A great, and underrated fruit. It’s a bush-like plant which appears to grow like a weed along the high-tide mark of sandy beaches. Red chillies are added to many dishes in Vietnamese cuisine: either in the cooking process or as a condiment. Clinging to its spindly trunk are clusters of bulging, breast-shaped fruit. I don't have more photos of vietnam jungle. The plants are green with small leaves that look like a herb bush. When I first saw a Kapok, I thought it very striking. Bischofia javanica is native to Asia and Oceania and occurs in over 25 countries with an extent exceeding 50 million km2. A fairly ordinary looking tree, the Indian Milkwood is best-known for its white flowers, which grow in clusters and release an intoxicating aroma. The trees have small, delicate leaves that grow in clusters. Although they are the same family, but these are 2 different plants. Growing to a height of about 1-4 metres, coffee bushes are squat, glossy-green-leafed shrubs. Lining the cusp of sandy beaches, sprouting between the rocks on cliff faces, and reclaiming abandoned resort construction sites, the periwinkle appears to thrive in hot, salty, windy conditions. Strangely, the teak trees that I’ve come across are often in eerie or significant places, such as dotting Hill A1 in Dien Bien Phu, the remote northwestern corner of Vietnam where the bloody final battle of the Franco-Vietnam war took place in 1954. When I started living in Vietnam and, in particular, when I started making road trips through the countryside, I was mesmerized by the colours, smells, shapes, sizes and variety of the flora I saw. Hence another of its colloquial names: the umbrella tree. Of this 0.6% ( 80,000 ) is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form of forest. Thanks a lot for your help. A bush in full bloom is an extravagant sight. The perfume transports you to an ancient spice house or herb merchant’s: cinnamon, cardamon, vanilla, cumin, clove – they’re all in there. The vines are wound around wooden trellises, growing about 5-feet above ground. Only Vernicia montana is not native to the reserve, though it is native to Vietnam, and is now widely grown in Quang Tri Province for its oil and wood. Fuelled by a raft of spectacular conservation wins over the …, Your email address will not be published. Introduced by the colonial French in the 19th and 20th centuries, Vietnam continues to grow grapes for wine production, honey, raisins and candies. This is considered a record cold wave that occurred in more than 10 years. Vietnam is among the largest producers of cashew nuts in the world. Personally, I’ve only seen persimmon trees in the Central Highlands, but I imagine they grow in the north, too, during the cold winters. From spindly, delicate bamboo that look like a Chinese ink and water painting, to thick, sturdy columns that look like the pillars of a palace wall, Bamboo comes in all sizes and colours. What a great post!, I really enjoyed reading this it has inspired me to do little check off like you did. I always associate persimmons with autumnal weather. Their delicate, snow-white flowers have a slight perfume. In Vietnamese, the name for cactus – Xương Rồng – means ‘Dragon Bones’. Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. In my experience, I find it more in the northern provinces than the southern. So it seems fitting that this is where Vietnam’s grapes are grown. But for the layman, like me, Angel’s Trumpet is the only name I need. I’m not a connoisseur, but it doesn’t taste great to me. *Where & when you might see it: Southern Central Highlands [MAP]. Thanks for the wonderful guide – both write up and pictures! Liquidambar formosana, a pioneer species also known as Chinese Sweet Gum, is native to China, Lao PDR, and Vietnam. The climate in the highlands of southern Vietnam offered ideal conditions for rubber trees. Apparently, there are all sorts of usages and folk stories surrounding cactus, especially in the Americas. On this page, I’ve compiled an informal, illustrated list of some of the flowers, plants and trees I regularly see in Vietnam’s cities and countryside, in the hope this may be something other travellers, road-trippers, and expats may find interesting too. World Land Trust (WLT) is currently working with our partner Viet Nature to restore 100 hectares of Annamite forest as part of a national plan to overcome the consequences of toxic chemicals, such as Agent Orange, used during the Vietnam War. Pinus dalatensis, also known as Vietnamese white pine or Dalat pine, is a species of pine endemic to Indochina. Although I’m not really a fan of orchids, the flowers of the Orchid Tree are fuller and more shapely than the potted varieties you find in nurseries, which are far too complex and showy for my taste. Flaming Trumpet is also called “hoa chùm ớt” or “hoa rạng đông”. Follow. I’m told that there are several distinct kinds of similar-looking bushes. Growing in clusters on the vine, the flowers are large, wide, and open. A pretty little flower with a suitably dainty name, Madagascar Periwinkles seem to grow like a weed along Vietnam’s coastline. Snow forecast will appear if the temperature continues to drop deeply. These’s something almost celestial about its appearance: it looks like it could be one of Jupiter’s many moons. That’s very helpful. *Where & when you might see it: Along the southern & central coast & islands [MAP]. Commit to conservation by becoming a World Land Trust Friend Make your commitment to the world's endangered habitats and their wildlife and become a Frie... A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity emerged for our partner Fundación Jocotoco (FJ) to safeguard the largest remaining tract of Ecuador’s once-vast Chocó fores... WLT would like to thank our incredible supporters for delivering yet another major conservation victory in 2020, with hundreds joining us to save Cameroon’s g... Last year, we watched the world on fire. They’re a deep green which blends with the sea and the sand of the beaches where they usually grow. It’s not at all difficult to see how the Lotus came to be so loved and used in religious iconography: it’s a beautiful, broad flower, with pink and white petals opening and closing into a bulb with the coming and going of the day and night; the flower sits atop a delicate stem rising out of the water from wide, green pads floating on the surface. A Kapok Tree in full bloom, covered in silvery ‘hair’, is a surreal sight to behold. A particularly good place to see bamboo is on the back-roads of, Found in large open orchards in coastal and lowland regions in the south-central provinces, the Cashew is an attractive tree bearing the famous nut and a less well-known, juicy fruit. This greatly enhanced my experience of nature in Vietnam and helped me engage with, and get closer to, the things I was seeing. With an evocative name and a perfume to match, the Rangoon creeper has been a favourite of mine ever since I first caught its scent on the breeze somewhere in Vietnam many years ago. All fields are required, You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
. *Where & when you might see it: South & central coast [MAP]. A great piece of work, Tom A visual delight. The Star Apple is quite a common and much-loved tropical fruit in the south of Vietnam, where it’s found along the coast, midlands and highlands. I read a Vietnamese proverb once (although I can’t find it anywhere now, and no one else seems to have heard it) that goes: Đền cây đa, ma cây gòn: The spirits live in the Banyan tree, the ghosts in the Kapok. In Vietnam, I generally see Kapoks in midland regions – between the coast, the plains, and the mountains. *Other names: Acacia | Cây Keo Bạc (Vietnamese), *Where & when you might see it: Central Highlands [MAP]. At night, the plantations are illuminated by naked light bulbs, resulting in a patchwork of yellow-glowing fields in the blackness, like the scene of a UFO landing site in the X-Files. The pods turn bright red when ripe and their seeds have been used as a dye for hundreds of years. Although they’re pretty enough, Yellow Oleander are apparently toxic to animals and humans. A fairly large tree with buttressed roots, the canopy is sparse, but the branches are laden with long, gourd-shaped seedpods. In Vietnam it grows in the mountains of the central and south-central parts of the country at elevations of 1,400 to 2,300 metres (4,600 to 7,500 ft). There are thousands of varieties of bamboo, of which you’ll see many as you travel through Vietnam, especially by the rivers and in the hills of the central and northern provinces. Only recently confirmed from Laos, the population located within the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area is the largest, at the lowest elevation, and the northernmost of the known populations of P. dalatensis. Unripe mangoes are crisp, sour, crunchy and refreshing, with a beautiful, floral smell and flavour. I see it most often in coastal resorts on the southern coast or, This pretty little flower grows on a shrub-like bush, especially by the sea. The fruit, however, is almost perfectly spherical; the skin glossy and smooth; the colour an attractive blend of green and purple. Viet Nam has 3,512,000 ha of planted forest. I like to think the tamarind is to Vietnam what the olive is to Greece: ancient and gnarly, bearing precious fruit, and thriving in sunny, hot, arid conditions. Bamboo apparently has the same tensile strength as steel – indeed, much scaffolding in Vietnam is bamboo. The copperpod is a common tree in Vietnamese towns and cities. I live in Vietnam and always finding myself looking at all the beautiful flowers in awe. Tree Species Vietnam’s diverse forest landscapes encompass karst mountains, lowland plains and coastal mangroves. Its name is Italian, and apparently comes from a 16th century duchess who was so enamored of the scent of the flower that she ordered her servants to concoct a perfume from it. In Vietnamese, the fruit is called. This is because I usually see the spindly trees in the cool, crisp air of the Central Highlands, around Dalat, in the months November to February, when they bear fruit. I wish we had it on our travels. To my mind, the king of trees in Asia, the Banyan is grand, exotic, heroic, mysterious and majestic. The Vietnamese name, hoa giấy, means ‘paper flower’, because of the fine, translucence of its petals. The quintessential, exotic, tropical hardwood tree, teak is found in pockets throughout Vietnam’s highlands. tea plantation in Vietnam . Specific information on distribution, habitat, ecology, and uses has been compiled. They are the cathedrals of the forest. From homes to piping to food and utensils, Bamboo has long been one of the most useful, versatile and strong plants in the world. An animated, bright and playful creeper, the Flame Vine is often seen in the Central Highlands, where it brightens even the grayest, mistiest of days. Ixora is a tropical to semi-tropical evergreen shrub, that usually available at local nurseries in red, pink or yellow.. Thanks, John. #119777042 - Rice fields near Hoi An with palm trees - Vietnam Asia. This species is a valuable timber tree whose range in Vietnam extends from the border with China to Quang Nam-Da Nang Province. Kapoks, while striking, are not especially beautiful. You’ll see lots of Dragon Fruit plantations on the Ocean Road between Saigon and Mui Ne. They’re used in smoothies and desserts. A fairly large tree with buttressed roots, the canopy is sparse, but the branches are laden with long, gourd-shaped seedpods. Learn more about Quảng Trị Province. *Other names: Devil tree | Cây Hoa Sữa (Vietnamese), *Where & when you might see it: Plains, lowlands & cities; blooming in October [MAP]. Indeed, the plant’s name in Vietnamese, nhuộm, means ‘dye. The nuts, which come in pods, are commonly used in Vietnamese cuisine as a garnish, to add crunch and flavour to a dish. Weighing in at over 50kg, it’s the largest tree-borne fruit in the world. The ‘cannonballs’ hang off the branches on vines, dangling close to the trunk from top to bottom; almost as though they were frozen while tumbling through the canopy. But their fruit, too, holds a special place in Vietnamese culinary culture. Growing to a height of about 1-4 metres, coffee bushes are squat, glossy-green-leafed shrubs. 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