Durio Graveolens

''Durio graveolens,'' sometimes called the red-fleshed durian, orange-fleshed durian, or yellow durian, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae. It is one of six species of durian named by Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari. The specific epithet ('strong smelling' or 'rank') is due to the odor. Although most species of ''Durio'' (most notably ''Durio dulcis'') have a strong scent, the red-fleshed type of ''D. graveolens'' has a mild scent. It is native to Southeast Asia.

''D. graveolens'' is an edible durian, perhaps the most popular 'wild' species of durian, and it is sold commercially regionally. However, its congener ''Durio zibethinus'' is the typical species eaten and dominates sales worldwide.

Names

This species should not be confused with the popular durian clones from Malaysia known as 'Red Flesh' (D164) and 'Red Prawn' (D175), as both of those belong to ''D. zibethinus''.

However, ''D. graveolens'' does have one registered variety, 'DQ2 nyekak (DK8)'. The color of the fruit's flesh denotes other varieties–an orange-fleshed, a red-fleshed one, and yellow-fleshed. These varieties may be different species, but currently there is no consensus. The yellow-fleshed kind is sometimes called ''durian simpor''.

In the scientific name ''Durio graveolens'', '' graveolens'' means 'strong smelling', although it has been described as having a "mild" or "slight" odor or even, in a book published by the US National Research Council, as "odorless".

In Malay, the fruit is called ', ' (literally "bird durian"), ' ("jungle durian"), ' ("yellow durian"), ' ("red durian"), or ' ("crayfish brain durian"). In Iban, it is '. The Bidayuh call it ''durian umot''. Among the Kenyah and Dayak peoples, it is known as ''durian anggang'' ("hornbill durian"), ''durian ajan'', ''pesang'', ''tabela'' or ''ta-bela'', ''tabelak'', ''taula'', ''tuala'', ''tuwala''. On Sumatra, the Batak call it ''tinambela''. In Karo, it is called '. In Thailand, it is referred to as ( th, ทุเรียนรากขา) or (; sources differ on which name refers to this species, with the other being attributed to ''D. kutejensis''). In Aceh Tamiang Regency, it can be called ''durian batu'' ("stone durian"), and elsewhere in Sumatra, it known as ''durian adjan''. Other regional names include ''durian dalit'' (but this can apply also to ''Durio oxleyanus'') ''alau'', ''dujen'', ''durian alau'', ''durian daun dungoh'', ''durian hutan'' ("forest durian"), ''durian pipit'', ''lai bengang'', ''merang kunyit'', ''pasang'', and ''tongkai''.

A natural hybrid of ''D. graveolens'' and ''D. zibethinus'' is called ''durian siunggong'' or ''durian suluk''. It has the texture and flavour of the popular ''D. zibethinus'' and the burnt caramel overtones of ''D. graveolens''.

After its initial description in 1889 by Odoardo Beccari, in 1924, Dutch botanist Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen Van Den Brink reduced it to a synonym of '' D. conicus''. British botanist John Wyatt-Smith combined it all under ''D. dulcis'' in 1953. Indonesian botanists André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans and Wertit Soegeng-Reksodihardjo separated ''D. graveolens'' back to its own species in 1958.

Distribution

Wild ''D. graveolens'' grows in Peninsular Malaysia (states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Penang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu), Borneo, Sumatra, Palawan, and Southern Thailand. It is cultivated in Brunei, Sarawak, Sabah, and the Northern Territory of Australia. In Brunei, its popularity outshines ''D. zibethinus'', which is not cultivated in the country.

It is occasionally grown outside the tropics. In Florida, it has been seen to survive two consecutive nights at , albeit shrouded in cloth.

Description

''D. graveolens'' is a large tree, sharing many features with '' D. dulcis''. It inhabits the upper canopy, growing up to tall. The trunk is in diameter and can have no branches until about high. The trunk will be smooth or flaky, grey/mauve to ruddy brown with steep buttress roots. The buttresses reach and extend out .

The oblong leaves are long without the petiole (leaf stalk), and wide. They are perfectly rounded on both ends, rigid, and slightly coriaceous (leather-like in feel or texture). On the top, they are glabrous (smooth and hairless) and crisp, almost vernicose (varnished). Underneath, the leaves are copper-brown and lepidote (scaly), with large scales of up to in diameter, which are not very noticeable, at least when dry. The leaf scales are peltate (shield-shaped), ciliate-radiated (fringed), and deeply-lobed in three to five parts. In addition to the scales, long strands of stellate hairs and other trichomes of varying size form a soft tomentose (fuzzy) surface. The leaf midrib is very prominent on the underside and forms a crease on top. The leaf stipules are caducous (drop early). Leaves have 10-12 lateral veins per side (with some smaller ones intermixed), which are tiny and superficial above and more distinct, but still barely visible. The petiole is very large, long, and tumescent (swollen) from the middle up.

Flowers grow on the branches on short cymes and a thin calyx. The base is sac-like with three to five connate lobes. It has white, spatulate (spoon-shaped) petals that are long. Inside are five separate bundles of staminodes and stamens, fused for less than half of their length. The anther has small clusters of four or five elongated pollen locules that open with longitudinal slits. Ovaries are ovoid to globose (roughly spherical) and possess a yellow capitate (shaped like a pinhead) stigma and white to greenish style about . The pollen is psilate